Valentin Named to United States U-20 National Team
1/8/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Jan. 8, 2007
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -
United States Under-20 Men's National Team head coach Thomas Rongen has named Wake Forest defender Julian Valentin as one of 20 that will represent the U.S. in Group A of the CONCACAF Under-20 Final Round Qualifying Tournament at Rommel Fernandez Stadium in Panama City, Panama.
Rongen brought in more than 70 players during nine camps in 2006 before making his final decision on the 20 that would represent the U.S. in Panama as they attempt to qualify for their sixth consecutive FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Valentin, a junior from Lancaster, Pa., has enjoyed an accolade-laden postseason. The defender was named to the NSCAA All-America Second Team, All-South Region First Team and the All-ACC First Team. Valentin also performed well in the classroom where he earned ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District honors. He had four goals and one assist on the season while helping the team to a school-record 13 shutouts. All four of his goals were game-winning or game-tying strikes.
The U.S. players will meet in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Wednesday, Jan. 10, where they will train for three days before heading to Panama early in the morning on Saturday, Jan. 13. The U.S. will then have a few days to prepare before opening the six-game round-robin qualifying tournament against Haiti on Wednesday, Jan. 17, at 6:30 p.m. Fans can follow all three games on ussoccer.com's MatchTracker.
The top two finishers in Group A will advance to the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada, which will take place from June 30-July 22 across six cities - Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton, Burnaby and Victoria.
The other two of the four CONCACAF berths (not including Canada which gets an automatic berth as host) will come from Group B, which will occur a month later from Feb. 21-25 in Culiacan, Sinaloa, located on the west coast of Mexico. Competing with the hosts will be Costa Rica, St. Kitts & Nevis and Jamaica.
- WakeForestSports.com -
