FC Dallas Player Called To U.S. Under-20 National Team
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FRISCO, Texas (Tuesday, Oct. 2 , 2012) – FC Dallas forward Jonathan Top has been called in by U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team head coach Tab Ramos for the team’s upcoming international friendlies against Canada, Scotland and Azerbaijan from Oct. 6 to Oct. 17 at the 2012 Marbella Cup in Marbella, Spain.
Accompanying Top on the trip is former FC Dallas Academy defender Boyd Okwuonu, who is currently playing for the University of North Carolina.
“Jonathan is a player that came in from our academy and has really done well,” said FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman. “He scored a goal for us against Vancouver. He’s coming in off the bench. He has started for us. Jonathan being called into the Under 20’s verifies that players of his caliber need to go from the academy straight to the professional level so that they can continue to improve. We’re anxious for him. We’re excited for him and we hope he comes back an even better player.”
A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Top became the fifth of seven Homegrown players to sign with FC Dallas on Jan. 12, 2011. The 19-year-old forward picked up his first MLS assist on a goal scored by Blas Perez against Real Salt Lake on May 26, 2012. Top scored his first career goal in an important 2-0 win over
Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Aug. 15. He started his first match for FC Dallas three days later, playing 45 minutes of a 2-1 win over Real Salt Lake.
Okwuonu played in 21 matches for the FC Dallas Academy in spring of 2011. He spent the second half of 2011 playing his freshman season at UNC, which claimed its second national championship in December. Originally from Edmond, Okla., Okwuonu started and played every minute for the Tar Heels last fall. He has started and played every minute for the 7-1-1 side again this season.
The U.S. U-20 MNT is scheduled to face Canada at 5:30 p.m. local time (11:30 a.m. ET) on Wednesday, Oct. 10 in the team’s first match. On Friday, Oct. 12, the U.S. squares off against Scotland at 3:30 p.m. (9:30 a.m. ET) and finally takes on Azerbaijan at 5 p.m. (11 a.m. ET) on Tuesday, Oct. 16.
