Sporting Kansas City defender Jaylin Lindsey has been selected to the United States U-20 Men’s National Team for a training camp in Spain that runs later this month during FIFA’s international window.
Lindsey joins a 20-player squad assembled by head coach Tab Ramos for a camp highlighted by friendly matches against the France U-20s on March 22 (9 a.m. CT) and Japan U-20s on March 25 (6 a.m. CT). Both games will take place at the Pinatar Arena in San Pedro del Pinatar, Spain.
The matches versus France and Japan will likely be the final official games for the U.S. U-20s before the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which will run from May 23 – June 15 in Poland. The United States have been drawn into Group D and will face Ukraine (May 24), Nigeria (May 27) and Qatar (May 30) in the group stage of the biennial tournament.
“I’m looking forward to our last camp before the U-20 World Cup,” Ramos said. “With competition against two quality opponents, it’s one more opportunity for us to build a strong core and one more chance for the players to leave a good impression in order to be considered for the final 20-player roster. Japan always has highly skilled youth teams and France is always a World Cup contender.”
Lindsey, who will turn 19 years old on March 27, has represented the United States at the U-14, U-15, U-17 and U-20 levels. The defender made his U-20 debut last September, starting all three games at the U.S. Soccer U-20 Men’s Invitational, before helping the U.S. claim the 2018 Concacaf U-20 Championship title with three starts throughout the tournament. He also featured regularly for the U-17s from 2016-2017, notably earning 2017 CONCACAF U-17 Championship Best XI honors as the Americans finished runners up to Mexico.
Lindsey enjoyed a breakout 2018 season with Sporting KC and USL affiliate Swope Park Rangers. The outside back started nine of 10 appearances for Sporting KC in all competitions, becoming the youngest player in Kansas City history to play at least 10 matches for the club. He landed his first start of 2019 earlier this month, logging the full 90 minutes in the first leg of the Concacaf Champions League Quarterfinals against Independiente in La Chorrera, Panama.
A product of the Sporting KC Academy, Lindsey logged six USL appearances last season for the Rangers, who booked their third straight trip to the USL Cup Playoffs. Featuring primarily as a right back, Lindsey boasted a 4-0-2 record as a Rangers starter in 2018. He made his first SPR start of 2019 three days after representing Sporting in Panama, going 90 minutes in the 2019 USL opener at New York Red Bulls II on Saturday.
U.S. U-20 MNT Roster by Position
(Club or College; Hometown; Caps/Goals)
GOALKEEPERS (2): C.J. Dos Santos (Benfica/POR; Philadelphia, Pa.; 1/0), Trey Muse (Seattle Sounders FC; Louisville, Ky.; 0/0)
DEFENDERS (6): Sergino Dest (Ajax/NED; Almere-Stad, Netherlands; 6/1), Chris Gloster (Hannover 96/GER; South Orange, N.J.; 9/0), Aboubacar Keita (Columbus Crew SC; Columbus, Ohio; 0/0), Jaylin Lindsey (Sporting Kansas City; Charlotte, N.C.; 5/0), Matthew Real (Philadelphia Union; Drexel Hill, Pa.; 8/0), Chris Richards (Bayern Munich/GER; Hoover, Ala.; 6/0)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Frankie Amaya (FC Cincinnati; Santa Ana, Calif.; 11/1), Christian Cappis (Hobro/DEN; Katy, Texas; 2/0); Andrew Carleton (Atlanta United FC; Powder Springs, Ga.; 5/2), Chris Durkin (D.C. United; Glen Allen, Va.; 0/0), Alex Mendez (Freiburg/GER; Los Angeles, Calif.; 13/8), Juan Pablo Torres (New York City FC; Lilburn, Ga.; 10/4)
FORWARDS (6): Ayo Akinola (Toronto FC/CAN; Detroit, Mich.; 10/9), Jonathan Amon (Nordsjaelland/DEN; Summerville, S.C.; 0/0), Konrad de la Fuente (Barcelona/ESP; Barcelona, Spain; 0/0), Ulysses Llanez (Unattached; Lynwood, Calif.; 9/7), Justin Rennicks (New England Revolution; Hamilton, Mass.; 12/6), Sebastian Soto (Hannover 96/GER; San Diego, Calif.; 3/2)
