Tab Ramos, head coach of the United States Men's National under-20 Team, announced his 19 player squad for the upcoming 2012 Marbella Cup in Spain.
Philadelphia Union academy prospect Zack Steffen, of FC Delco and set to enroll at the University of Maryland, was a first time selection for Ramos and the choice was surprising to Steffen, but not youth experts.
"I [had] no idea," Steffen told the Brotherly Game when asked about his call up.
The picking by Ramos of Steffen to replace Cody Cropper, the typical under-20 number one goalkeeper according to Yanks Abroad's Brian Sciaretta, on the roster was an easy decision, according to J.R. Eskilson of Top Drawer Soccer.
"Not a big surprise," Eskilson tweeted to the Brotherly Game. "Steffen is a stud and competition is wide open at GK for this cycle."
Eskilson's colleague at Top Drawer Soccer, Travis M. Clark, agreed with the thought of Steffen as a major goalkeeping talent.
"Steffen is great - probably No 1 GK prospect in the class of '13," Clark tweeted.
"Hopefully it goes well."
GOALKEEPERS (2): Kendall McIntosh (Santa Clara; Santa Rosa, Calif.), Zackary Steffen (FC Delco Academy; Downington, Pa.).
DEFENDERS (7): Anthony Brooks (Hertha BSC; Berlin, Germany), Eric Miller (Creighton; Woodbury, Minn.), Juan Pablo Ocegueda (UANL Tigres; Riverside, Calif.), Boyd Okwuonu (North Carolina; Edmund, Okla.), Shane O'Neill (Colorado Rapids; Boulder, Colo.), William Packwood (Birmingham City FC; Concord, Mass.), Walker Zimmerman (Furman; Lawrenceville, Ga.).
MIDFIELDERS (5): Luis Gil (Real Salt Lake; Garden Grove, Calif.), Benji Joya (Santos Laguna; San Jose, Calif.), Mikey Lopez (North Carolina; Mission, Tex.), Marc Pelosi (Liverpool FC; Sunnyvale, Calif.), Caleb Stanko (SC Freiburg; Holly, Mich.).
FORWARDS (5): Daniel Cuevas (Santos Laguna; Sacramento, Calif.), Jerome Kiesewetter (VfB Stuttgart; Berlin, Germany), Mario Rodriguez (1. FC Kaiserslautern; North Hollywood, Calif.), Jonathan Top (FC Dallas; Fort Worth, Tex.), Jose Villarreal (LA Galaxy; Inglewood, Calif.)