Two Mass. Natives on U20 World Cup Roster

Williams, Maund Prepare for Egypt

August 28, 2009

Boston native Sheanon Williams and Dorchester�s Aaron Maund will represent the Bay State in the tournament, which takes place from Sept. 24-Oct. 16.

�It�s a culmination of two years of investing and looking at players through a good training environment and playing high level games and trying to figure out which 21 eventually would represent the United States well in Egypt.,� said head coach Thomas Rongen, who will be at the helm of his third U-20 World Cup squad. �It�s a long process and the coaches take great pride in making sure we select the right players, and we have come to the conclusion that the 21 players we have selected are the guys that will do a great job for our team.�

The U.S. team will depart for Larnaca, Cyprus, on Sept. 14 and play a final tune-up against Australia before traveling to Suez, Egypt, on Sept. 21. The U.S. will open against Germany on Sept. 26 before facing Cameroon on Sept. 29 and rounding out group play against Korea Republic on Oct. 2. All three of the USA�s group matches will be played at the brand new Mubarak Stadium in Suez.

The defensive corps will be led by team captain Kyle Davies, who has become a regular in the FC Dallas starting lineup since a mid-season transfer from English club Southampton. He will be joined by club teammate Anthony Wallace and three others who return from the team�s successful qualifying campaign in March, including Maund, Williams and Gale Agbossoumonde. That group, which posted four shutouts during the CONCACAF U-20 Championship in March, will be bolstered by Wake Forest�s Ike Opara.

The U.S. qualified for the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup by posting a 2-1-2 record at the 2009 CONCACAF U-20 Championship in March, collecting four straight shutouts before being downed by Costa Rica in the final. Costa Rica, Honduras and Trinidad & Tobago will all join the U.S. to represent the region in Egypt.

Roster By Position:

GOALKEEPERS (3): Sean Johnson (Central Florida; Lilburn, Ga.), Josh Lambo (FC Dallas; Middleton, Wis.), Brian Perk (UCLA; Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.)

DEFENDERS (6): Gale Agbossoumonde (Miami FC; Syracuse, N.Y.), Kyle Davies (FC Dallas; Danville, Calif.), Aaron Maund (Notre Dame; Dorchester, Mass.), Ike Opara (Wake Forest; Durham, N.C.), Anthony Wallace (FC Dallas; St. Petersburg, Fla.), Sheanon Williams (Unattached; Boston, Mass.)

MIDFIELDERS (8): Danny Cruz (Houston Dynamo; Glendale, Ariz.), Mikkel Diskerud (Stabak; Oslo, Norway), Dilly Duka (Rutgers; Montville, N.J.), Jorge Flores (Chivas USA; Anaheim, Calif.), Jared Jeffrey (Club Brugge; Richardson, Texas), Brian Ownby (Virginia; Glen Allen, Va.), Dillon Powers (Notre Dame; Plano, Texas), Michael Stephens (UCLA; Naperville, Ill.)

FORWARDS (4): Sam Garza (Denver; Highland Village, Texas), Peri Marosevic (FC Dallas; Rockford, Ill.), Brek Shea (FC Dallas; College Station, Texas), Tony Taylor (Jacksonville; Jacksonville, Fla.)

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