Three players from the Dynamo Academy, presented by Statoil, have been called into upcoming youth national team training camps.
Midfielder Christian Lucatero (pictured, above) will head to Carson, Calif., for a U.S. U-17 national team training camp from March 23-31. Goalkeeper Johan Welch and defender Sterling Noreiga will head to Florida on Saturday for a week-long training camp with the Trinidad & Tobago U-17 national team.
This is Lucatero's first U-17 national team camp after participating in a U-15 training camp last September. Lucatero will join 23 of the top players from around the country born in 1997 for the camp. Of the 24 players in camp, 18 will be selected to compete for the U-17 ’97s at the 2013 Caspian Cup this May in Azerbaijan. The ’97 birth year represents the core age group for the eventual U-20 Men’s National Team that will begin competing for a spot in the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup in early 2016.
Welch and Noreiga will miss this week's Dallas Cup to participate in the training camp with Trinidad & Tobago. The Dynamo Academy players will be looking to secure spots on the squad that will participate in the 2013 CONCACAF U-17 Championship, which will take place April 6-19 in Panama City, Panama. The top four teams from that tournament will qualify for the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
In the recent CONCACAF U-17 Championships draw, the United States was paired with Guatemala and Haiti in Group C, while Trinidad & Tobago was paired with Canada and Costa Rica in Group B.
