Dillon Serna finishes Monday's training session with a nice goal...
COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (Wednesday, February 13, 2013) – Colorado Rapids midfielder Dillon Serna today was called up to the United States Under-20 National Team by head coach Tab Ramos as his final addition to the 2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship roster. Serna will join Rapids teammate and fellow Homegrown Player Shane O’Neill, who is already with the squad in Puebla, Mexico.
WATCH: Serna credits Academy for his development to the pros
"Dillon has worked hard to get this opportunity, performing well at Akron last fall and with the Rapids throughout preseason," said Rapids Technical Director Paul Bravo. "We're proud to have two Homegrown Players being noticed on a national level and see it as a testament to our youth system.”
The Brighton, Colo., native was signed by the Rapids last month after being part of the club’s U-15/16 and U-17/18 U.S. Soccer Development Academy teams and spending one year at the University of Akron. This is the 18-year-old’s second call up to the U.S. U-20 side. He was part of U.S. team at the Northern Ireland Milk Cup last July, making the first of three appearance against Denmark on July 21, 2012.
The U-20s open the CONCACAF U-20 Championship group stage against Haiti on Feb. 18 and Costa Rica on Feb. 22 at Estadio Olímpico Universitario Lobos BUAP in Puebla, Mexico. Both Group A matches kick off at 5:30 p.m. CT and are televised on FOX Soccer. The top four teams from the CONCACAF U-20 Championship advance to the U-20 World Cup in Turkey from June 21-July 13.
U.S. U-20 MNT Roster By Position:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Cody Cropper (Southampton FC; Maple Grove, Minn.), Kendall McIntosh (Santa Clara; Santa Rosa, Calif.), Zackary Steffen (FC DELCO Academy; Downington, Pa.)
DEFENDERS (5): Eric Miller (Creighton; Woodbury, Minn.), Juan Pablo Ocegueda (C.D. Guadalajara; Riverside, Calif.), Boyd Okwuonu (North Carolina; Edmund, Okla.), Shane O’Neill (Colorado Rapids; Boulder, Colo.), Javan Torre (UCLA; Santa Monica, Calif.)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Luis Gil (Real Salt Lake; Garden Grove, Calif.), Benji Joya (Santos Laguna; San Jose, Calif.), Mikey Lopez (Sporting Kansas City; Mission, Texas), Dillon Serna (Colorado Rapids; Brighton, Colo.), Caleb Stanko (SC Freiburg; Holly, Mich.), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew; Gahanna, Ohio)
FORWARDS (6): Brandon Allen (Georgetown; Old Bridge, N.J.), Daniel Cuevas (Santos Laguna; Sacramento, Calif.), Daniel Garcia (North Carolina; Dallas, Texas), Jerome Kiesewetter (VfB Stuttgart; Berlin, Germany), Mario Rodriguez (1. FC Kaiserslautern; North Hollywood, Calif.), Jose Villarreal (LA Galaxy; Inglewood, Calif.)
Colorado will open the 2013 regular season at home on March 9 against the Philadelphia Union, with a special March to Soccer ticket package available for the first two home matches featuring 4 tickets and a $20 voucher for $52.80.
