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Zack Steffen, Top Union Goalkeeper Talent, Called Up to USMNT under-20 Squad

The FC Delco goalkeeper received a call from the US Men's National Team under-20 squad for an upcoming tournament in Spain and told the Brotherly Game he's excited for the opportunity.

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.

For his part, Steffen was happy to just make the team and made it clear to the Brotherly Game that he wanted to make the most of this opportunity.

"I am just trying to go over to Spain and train and play well," Steffen said. "Hopefully I play to my potential. As of right now, I'm only trying to play well over there and show the coaches what I can give to the team.

"Hopefully it goes well."

The full under-20 roster:

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.)