Jason Kreis selects 31 for Olympic Qualifying pre-tournament training camp

United States men’s under-23 national team manager Jason Kreis has announced a 31-player roster that he’s bringing to Guadalajara for a pre-tournament training camp ahead of Olympic Qualifying.

While this roster isn’t final by any means, and will have to be cut down to 20 before the tournament begins, it’s safe bet the majority of these names will make up the team that will try to qualify.

One of the most glaring absences from the roster is dual-national Efrain Alvarez. While it’s not good news that he’s not on the USA roster, the silver lining is that Kreis told the media that Alvarez wasn’t ready to commit to the U.S. or Mexico quite yet.

Another bit of frustrating news for the Americans’ chances of qualifying is that Atlanta United denying the release of three players due to conflict with the beginning of Concacaf Champions League on April 6. George Bello, Miles Robinson, and Brooks Lennon all appear on the training camp roster but their club has confirmed they will not be able to participate in the camp or qualifying tournament.

The back line will suffer the most from those absences as it features very little experience in the way of actual centerbacks.

Kreis left the door open for the possibility of a few additions to the roster for guys not named to the training camp roster. Presumably the federation has tried to negotiate with European clubs to secure the release of some players. We shall see if any of those were successful once we get closer to camp.

The Olympic Qualifying tournament begins for the USA on March 18. All three of the Americans’ group matches will air on FS1 and TUDN.

U-23 USMNT Training Camp Roster by Position (Club; Hometown):

GOALKEEPERS (4): Matt Freese (Philadelphia Union; Wayne, Pa.), Jonathan Klinsmann (LA Galaxy; Munich, Germany), JT Marcinkowski (San Jose Earthquakes, Alamo, Calif.), David Ochoa (Real Salt Lake; Oxnard, Calif.)

DEFENDERS (10): Julian Araujo (LA Galaxy; Lompoc, Calif.), George Bello (Atlanta United FC; Douglasville, Ga.), Marco Farfan (LAFC; Gresham, Ore.), Justen Glad (Real Salt Lake; Tucson, Ariz.), Aaron Herrera (Real Salt Lake; Las Cruces, N.M.), Henry Kessler (New England Revolution; New York, N.Y.), Mauricio Pineda (Chicago Fire FC; Bolingbrook, Ill.), Miles Robinson (Atlanta United FC; Arlington, Mass.), Austin Trusty (Colorado Rapids; Media, Pa.), Sam Vines (Colorado Rapids; Colorado Springs, Colo.)

MIDFIELDERS (8): Frankie Amaya (FC Cincinnati; Santa Ana, Calif.), Cole Bassett (Colorado Rapids; Littleton, Colo.), Johnny Cardoso (Internacional/BRA; Denville, N.J.), Hassani Dotson (Minnesota United FC; Federal Way, Wash.), Andrés Perea (Orlando City SC; Medellin, Colombia), Tanner Tessmann (FC Dallas; Hoover, Ala.), Eryk Williamson (Portland Timbers; Alexandria, Va.), Jackson Yueill (San Jose Earthquakes; Bloomington, Minn.)

FORWARDS (9): Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas; McKinney, Texas), Brooks Lennon (Atlanta United FC; Paradise Valley, Ariz.), Jonathan Lewis (Colorado Rapids; Plantation, Fla.), Ulysses Llanez (Heerenveen/NED; Lynwood, Calif.), Benji Michel (Orlando City SC; Orlando, Fla.), Djordje Mihailovic (CF Montreal/CAN; Jacksonville, Fla.), Ricardo Pepi (FC Dallas; McKinney, Texas), Sebastian Saucedo (UNAM Pumas/MEX; Park City, Utah), Sebastian Soto (Norwich City/ENG; San Diego, Calif.)