Four Union players are candidates for USMNT’s under-20 World Cup roster

The time is coming soon for U.S. under-20 men's national team head coach Tab Ramos to make the big decisions about his team for the upcoming World Cup.

He will submit a 50-man provisional roster to FIFA on Monday, then pick a 21-player squad for the tournament by May 3.

Four Union players are expected to be be on the provisional list: defenders Mark McKenzie and Matthew Real and midfielders Anthony Fontana and Brenden Aaronson.

Real is a lock to go. He has been a stalwart of the team for some time. The Drexel Hill native played in both games held during the team’s recent training camp in Spain: the first half of a 2-2 tie with France and all 90 minutes of a 2-1 win over Japan.

“Matt’s doing well,” Ramos told The Inquirer. “At this point, what I really like about it is the fact that Matt can provide coverage at both left back and as a left centerback. I think that’s really important.”

Fontana and Aaronson likely won't make the cut, though Ramos said he's been impressed by Aaronson's good performances for the Union this season.

"If he continues to do well, there's always a possibility," Ramos said of Aaronson. "We know that our midfield is really crowded with good players, but I think the door is open to anyone that's on that 50-man list."

McKenzie remains the big question. The Union seem to have softened their edge on not letting him go, but the narrative has changed, with McKenzie not playing yet for the Union this season. A concussion suffered a few weeks ago is a big reason why, but he could have played against Columbus last weekend and at Cincinnati on Saturday night and didn’t. His only playing time has been one game for Bethlehem Steel.

Ramos said he thought about calling McKenzie in for the second half of the U.S. team’s training camp in Spain that ran from March 20-26, but he didn’t want to bring a player in midway through. (McKenzie ended up making that Bethlehem appearance on the 24th.)

"We've texted back and forth," Ramos said. "We felt like joining in the middle of camp probably wasn't going to be a good idea. We'll have to monitor how he moves forward."

Ramos also pointedly said that he wants players on his team who are getting minutes for their clubs, and he knows McKenzie isn't.

"In this World Cup, more than any other World Cup before, we need to have players on the team who are playing games," Ramos said. "I think it's going to depend on how much playing time Mark is going to get over the next seven weeks. There's no question Mark is one of our best defenders, so we'd like to have him there, but we'd like to also have a player who's been playing games."

Could a player whom the Union deemed too essential to give up now get turned away by the national team because he isn’t playing enough? It would be a surreal outcome, especially since McKenzie is one of Ramos’ captains.

"What's not going to happen is that Mark is going to go the next seven weeks and not play any games, and then get released to the national team to play games," Ramos said. "I don't have any time to prepare Mark for the games. We need Mark McKenzie because he's one of the best defenders that we have at this country at this age, but we need him playing games."

Ramos knows the American soccer community has high hopes for arguably the most talented U.S. under-20 team ever. But he is wary of adding to the hype.

“Not all our players are playing 90 minutes on the weekend, and we’re going to be playing at the World Cup against teams who have players who are ready to play 90 minutes,” he said. “That’s a big challenge for us with no preparation time.”