Tag Archives: U-23

Portland Timbers Acquire Jonathan Rodríguez from Club America

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Jonathan Rodríguez is headed to the Pacific Northwest.

The 30-year-old Uruguayan soccer player, known by his nickname Cabecita, will play for the Portland Timbers.

Jonathan RodríguezThe Portland team reached an agreement with Club América to acquire Rodriguez, who trained with Club América’s U-23 squad on Monday while finalizing a four-year designated player deal with the Timbers.

He’s expected to travel to Portland later this week.

According to sources, the clubs have had an agreement in place for a $6 million transfer fee for the Uruguayan striker since last Friday.

Rodríguez didn’t travel with the team to Guadalajara last week for the 3-0 victory over Chivas in the National Clasico — part of the Concacaf Champions Cup — and was not at América’s victory over Tigres UANL last Sunday.

The striker has been productive for América this season, scoring nine goals and adding three assists across all competitions. Before signing with ‘Aguilas‘, Rodríguez had previously played in Liga MX for Santos Laguna and Cruz Azul.

In 2022, Rodríguez moved to the Saudi Pro League to play with Al Nassr where he appeared in eight games and scored one goal in six months, before returning to Mexico.

Rodríguez, who debuted with the Uruguay national team in 2014, earned a call-up for his national team under manager Marcelo Bielsa in 2023 after a two-year absence that included the 2022 World Cup.

FIFA Approves Julian Araujo’s Switch From United States to Mexico

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Julian Araujo is switching (international) sides…

After playing one game for the United States, the 20-year-old Mexican American defender has been cleared to change his national eligibility to Mexico, according to FIFA.

Julian Araujo

The LA Galaxy defender made his debut for the U.S. last December, starting at right back in a 6-0 win over El Salvador.

Araujo, who is from Lompoc, California, previously represented the U.S. at age-group levels through the Under-23 team.

In March, he played for the U.S. U23 team against Mexico in a 2020 Tokyo Games qualification game.

Mexico won 1-0 and eventually advanced to Tokyo, getting a bronze medal.

As a dual national with Mexican family ties, Araujo was eligible within FIFA’s rules to switch national teams and was yet to play a competitive game for the U.S. senior team.

“My heart is with Mexico,” Araujo said in a statement on Tuesday. “I’m grateful for every opportunity that U.S. Soccer has provided me to help me grow as a soccer player and now I am excited to continue my international career with Mexico.”

Mexico faces the U.S. in their 2022 World Cup quaIification group on November 12 in Cincinnati.

Jesus Ferreira Leads United States U-23 National Team to Critical Win Over Costa Rica

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Jesus Ferreira is leading the American futbol pack…

The 20-year-old Colombian soccer player led the United States U-23 national team to a critical victory in its bid to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, helping them defeat Costa Rica 1-0 in its opening match of the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament in Guadalajara.

Jesus Ferreira

Ferreira, an attacker for FC Dallas, scored the game’s only goal in the 35th minute, and the U.S. defense made it stand up, with keeper David Ochoa making a total of eight saves in a Man-of-the-Match performance.

With Mexico and the Dominican Republic also in Group A, the victory puts the U.S. in excellent position to be one of the two teams to advance and progress to the winner-take-all semifinal.

The U.S. struggled to maintain possession as the game went on amid difficult conditions at Estadio Jalisco that included game-time temperatures approaching 90 degrees as well as altitude of over 5,000 feet. Given that the Major League Soccer season has yet to start while the Costa Rican league is in the middle of its own, the fact that Los Ticos had the better of play wasn’t that surprising.

But the U.S. made the plays that mattered, and rode the saves of Ochoa to claim all three points.

“It wasn’t great,” said U.S. manager Jason Kreis about his team’s attempts to take care of the ball. “It was an important result for us but I would say that we would have hoped to have gotten that result in a little bit of a better fashion.

“I think we would have hoped that we could have been better on the ball and make better decisions and maintain the tempo of the game better. But unfortunately, part of guys not playing matches is that it’s not just about fitness, it’s also about their touch on the ball.

“And so I felt that the majority of what Costa Rica did to hurt us was in transition, when we gave the ball away very cheaply.”

Both teams showed nerves in the early going. Ferreira robbed Costa Rica defender Fernan Faerron in the second minute, advanced on goal unimpeded, but could only hit the post with the shot.

Ochoa was then twice called on to deliver two big saves, smothering Adrian Martinez‘s shot in the seventh minute, and then another close-range Martinez effort 10 minutes later following a giveaway from U.S. defender Mauricio Pineda.

Intent on getting an equalizer, Costa Rica started the second half with the greater level of intensity. The U.S. didn’t help itself with some giveaways deep in its own half, but Ochoa was on hand again, diving to his right to deny Randall Leal‘s effort in the 48th minute and then saving from Luis Diaz three minutes later.

Andres Perea Granted Permission to Represent United States

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Andres Perea is switching (international) sides…

The 20-year-old professional soccer player and Orlando City SC midfielder has been granted a one-time switch from Colombia to represent the United States.

Andres Perea

Perea, a Tampa, Florida native, moved to Colombia at an early age, rising through the club ranks at Atletico Nacional. He went on to represent Colombia at the FIFA U17 World Cup in 2017 and U20 World Cup two years later before joining Orlando City on loan last season.

Perea, who’s at the January camp with the U-23 U.S. men’s team, received the news on his switch from senior side coach Gregg Berhalter. Because Perea played for Colombia in official competition, Perea wasn’t able to take part in the USMNT‘s 6-0 win against El Salvador last December.

“It was a very important decision for me. Colombia is my country as well, but it’s an honor for me to represent the United States as I did Colombia in the past,” Perea said.

The players of the U23 side — which will represent the U.S. at the Tokyo Olympics this summer — are training alongside 12 members of the senior group in Bradenton, Florida, with reports of a friendly match against Serbia in the works.

“Andres we find to be a really, really interesting holding midfield player for us,” U.S. U23 coach Jason Kreis said during a conference call. “The amount of ground that he’s capable to cover defensively, I think it’s a little bit different level than some of the other guys that we have in our pool. His processing of the ball, he’s still learning a little bit about that.”

Kreis anticipates men’s Olympic soccer qualifying for North and Central America and the Caribbean will take place during late March in Guadalajara, Mexico, where the CONCACAF tournament last spring was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Kreis said he anticipates it will be difficult to access top Europe-based Americans for qualifying. FIFA does not require that clubs release players to under-23 teams. FIFA extended the age limit by a year, keeping the group for qualifying limited to players born on or after Jan. 1, 1997.

Each team reaching the games in Japan can supplement its roster with three players over the age limit. Top Americans are not expected at qualifying, with clubs expected not to make available Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, Joshua Sargent and Giovanni Reyna. All are regulars in league play this season.

Los Angeles FC Acquire Marco Farfan from Portland Timbers

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Marco Farfan is switching sides…

Los Angeles FC (LAFC) has acquired the 22-year-old Mexican American soccer player, an outside back, from the Portland Timbers for an undisclosed amount of allocation money, according to ESPN.

Marco Farfan

The move gives the Black-and-Gold some needed help at outside back following a season in which its defensive record slipped into the bottom half of the Major League Soccer (MLS).

The move is expected to be officially announced at the opening of the half-day trade window on December 13.

Farfan was signed by the Timbers to a homegrown player contract in October of 2016, becoming the first product of the team’s academy to sign such a deal. Over the course of the next four seasons, Farfan made 37 league and cup appearances with the Timbers’ first team, while also seeing time in the second tier USL Championship with Portland Timbers 2, the club’s reserve side. In the most recent campaign, Farfan made 15 appearances, nine of them starts.

A source with knowledge of the situation indicated that Farfan’s contract was expiring and that he was eager to find a new challenge. LAFC was able to oblige.

At international level, Farfan has made two appearances with the U.S. U-23 team. He has been called into training camp with the full US Men’s National Team (USMNT) squad ahead of the December 9 friendly against El Salvador.