U.S. U-23s Ready to ‘Come Out Flying’ Vs Mexico Tomorrow

The U.S. U-23 team takes on Mexico’s U-23 side tomorrow night at FC Dallas Stadium in Frisco, TX (10:00 ET, Univision), and now that West Ham midfielder Sebastian Lletget and Hoffenheim striker Joe Gyau have joined the team, coach Caleb Porter’s roster is complete and his players are ready to go.

The 19-year-old Gyau—the son of former U.S. national team player Philip Gyau and the grandson of former Ghana national teamer Joseph—joined Hoffenheim’s U-19 team in the summer of 2010 and has shot quickly through the ranks. He made his first-team debut on Feb 8.

Lletget—whose name is pronounced “Le-GETT,” not “Le-JETT” as in the clip below (come on, US Soccer, he’s one of your own players)—left the U.S. U-17 setup in 2008 to join West Ham’s academy in London. He too has risen through the ranks and is close to a breakthrough with the first team.

Here they are, along with DC United defender Perry Kitchen (who turns 20—or is it 5?*—on game day), talking about tomorrow’s match:

Below is Porter’s complete roster for this final tuneup before Olympic qualifying starts next month:

GOALKEEPERS: Bill Hamid (D.C. United; Annandale, Va.), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire; Lilburn, Ga.)

DEFENDERS: Greg Garza (Club Tijuana; Grapevine, Texas), Perry Kitchen (D.C. United; Indianapolis, Ind.), Alfredo Morales (Hertha Berlin; Berlin, Germany), Ike Opara (San Jose Earthquakes; Durham, N.C.), Kofi Sarkodie (Houston Dynamo; Huber Heights, Ohio), Zarek Valentin (Montreal Impact; Lancaster, Pa.), Jorge Villafaña (Chivas USA; Anaheim, Calif.)

MIDFIELDERS: Joe Corona (Club Tijuana; Chula Vista, Calif.), Mix Diskerud (Gent; Oslo, Norway), Dilly Duka (Columbus Crew; Montville, N.J.), Jared Jeffrey (Mainz; Richardson, Texas), Sebastian Lletget (West Ham United; San Francisco, Calif), Amobi Okugo (Philadelphia Union; Sacramento, Calif.), Michael Stephens (LA Galaxy; Naperville, Ill.)

FORWARDS: Freddy Adu (Philadelphia Union; Potomac, Md.), Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls; Barnegat, N.J.), Teal Bunbury (Sporting Kansas City; Prior Lake, Minn.), Joe Gyau (Hoffenheim: Silver Spring, Md.), Jack McInerney (Philadelphia Union; Alpharetta, Ga.), Tony Taylor (Estoril Praia; Jacksonville, Fla.)

*Match is set for Feb 29, aka Leap Day.

Bonus footage of Gyau, at 15, lighting up opponents with the U.S. U-17s:

Joe Gyau Shining In US U-23 Camp

He’s been touted as an exceptional talent since at least 2008, when he sparkled at the U-17 national residency program in Bradenton, and this month, 19-year-old Joe Gyau is being called “arguably the most impressive player” in new U.S. U-23 coach Caleb Porter’s training camp in Lakewood Ranch, Florida.

Ives Galarcep wrote a position-by-position breakdown of the current U23 camp over at Fox Sports, and he shares some interesting observations. In addition to Gyau, German-American Terrance Boyd has been a bright spot on the offensive end, with Galarcep calling him “the class of the forward pool.”

On defense, Gale Agbossoumonde  of Eintracht Frankfurt has been solid at centerback, and Galarcep says new Montreal Impact signing Bryan Arguez, who signed in Europe as a teenager, has been “one of the truly pleasant surprises” of Porter’s camp, showing good passing skills, an ability to read the game and versatility. He’s played in midfield as well as at centerback. It will be interesting to see him in MLS next season.

Freddy Adu and West Ham’s Sebastian Lletget also receive high marks, but defender and Name Hall of Famer Royal–Dominique Fennell of Stuttgarter Kickers, unfortunately, has sputtered so far in camp.

Go give it a read.

The U.S. U-23s open the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament on March 22, 2012, taking on Cuba in Nashville.