THERE WAS A TIME not so long ago when a United States roster for an under-20 World Cup would come out and one of the first things American fans would do was to count the few professional players sprinkled among the college and high school kids that traditionally made up the bulk of the U.S. roster. 

A John O’Brien here, a Tim Howard there, and a few years later a Landon Donovan or Eddie Johnson. Back then, being a pro player on the U.S. U-20 team was a novelty and the perception of college soccer in this country was such that it was usually assumed, often without merit, that a player who had somehow signed a pro contract was automatically better than his amateur counterparts. 

Hence, a player like Myles Stoddard, who at the time was playing minor league soccer for the Reno Rattlers, then in the USISL’s D-3 Pro League, made the U.S. team that went to the 1997 U-20 World Cup in Malaysia. (Stoddard, played all of one game, coming in as a second-half sub in the Round of 16 loss to Uruguay with the U.S. already trailing 3-0.)

A forward, Stoddard never went on to play in MLS and spent about a decade bouncing around the various indoor circuits. Among the age-eligible college forwards not picked was Brian Ching, then at Gonzaga, who went on to earn 45 caps for the U.S. and make the 2006 World Cup team.

Such is not the case today, where it’s now almost impossible for amateur players to make the U.S. U-20 team for meaningful competitions. In CONCACAF qualifying earlier this year, no current college players were on the roster and the only amateur was right back Shaquell Moore, a current high school senior who is looking to sign abroad once he finishes school. (He's been training sporadically in Spain the past few months.)

When Tab Ramos announced the roster today for the U.S. team that will compete at this year’s U-20 World Cup in New Zealand, the only amateur players among the 20 named are Moore and third-string goalkeeper Jeff Caldwell, from reigning NCAA champion Virginia.

"I don't have all the stats in front of me. I can tell you, this is probably the most professional team, definitely, in the last two or three cycles," Ramos said.

What’s more telling about this roster are the number of pros who weren’t picked. Gone are the days where a player like Stoddard could make the team just because he’s getting paid to play.

Seattle’s Cristian Roldan, Philadelphia’s Zach Pfeffer, and Orlando’s Tyler Turner have all started games in MLS this spring. Once, doing so would have made them a lock to make a U-20 World Cup roster but none of them were among the 20 listed by Ramos.

There was also a time when being on the books of a big European or Mexican club would have made a player a shoo-in at the U-20 level. But Dortmund’s Junior Flores, Athletico Madrid’s Boxi Yomba, and Tijuana’s Fernando Arce, Jr. and Amando Moreno were all on the outside looking in when the roster was named.

In qualifying in January, Columbus’ Romain Gall was the leading U.S. scorer while Sunderland’s Lynden Gooch, Toronto FC’s Ben Spencer, and Orlando’s Lynden Gooch all started for the U.S. at least once. None of them made Ramos’ final 20.

The U.S. can name one more player to round out the 21-player roster. Ramos said Wednesday he's kept the 21st spot open in hopes that Arsenal's Gedion Zelalem will be cleared by FIFA to play for the U.S. before next week’s roster deadline. If he is, he’ll get the final roster spot. If not, Ramos said Pfeffer would get the nod.

Ramos said that it was a particularly tough call in central midfield, where Flores and Roldan, and potentially Pfeffer,  just missed the cut.

"I had a very tough choice. I think the selction process was a very difficult one in that particular position, because we had a lot of options," Ramos said. "Could Roldan potentially do the job for us in the World Cup? The answer to that is absolutely yes. He's a good player. So is Junior Flores. I mean, these are all good players. But in the end, obviously, I couldn't select too many players that play the same position. So  those guys were left on the outside looking in, but it's by a very small margin. These are all good players we're talking about."

Toss in players like New York Red Bulls reserve goalkeeper Santiago Castano and Freiburg’s Ethan Sonis, and it’s easy to put together a starting XI of young American pros who didn’t make the U.S. roster. (Andrija Novakovich, who has already made his first-team bow for Reading, likely would have made the U.S. roster but wasn’t released by his club because Reading wants him rested when they begin preseason in mid-June.) 

It’s a sign of how many young Americans are now playing professionally both domestically and abroad that players like Flores, Roldan, and Pfeffer are omitted from a U.S. U-20 World Cup roster. Time will tell whether it was the right call to not include them over some that made the cut, but the depth of pros for the U.S. at this age group is undeniable and a definite sign of progress. 

The flip-side of this is it means fewer excuses.

In the past, when a roster dominated by college players failed to advance past the second round, it was easy to defer to the logic that our less-experienced players were at a competitive disadvantage against foreign youth national teams stocked with young pros. Obviously, that is no longer the case. Besides the third string goalkeeper, only three others players - Zach Steffen (two seasons), Jordan Allen (one season) and Tommy Thompson (one season) played college soccer.

It’s also convenient to blame MLS for the team’s past shortcomings but with only seven players on this roster from the American first division, that scapegoat isn’t there so much, either. 

"As far as the expectations, we're always hoping that we're getting better, so we expect that. Our expectations for ourselves are always higher and higher, and so it's normal that other people's expectations are higher as well. In the end, obviously, you're always depending on results," Ramos said. "Sometimes, results come your way, and sometimes, they don't. I think there's no reason to not have higher expectations than we've had in the past."

If this team does what no U.S. team has done since 2007 and advances past the Round of 16, then it will likely be seen as a byproduct of all the young professionals on the roster, most of whom play abroad. But if the U.S. goes three-and-out or loses in the Round of 16 again, then college soccer and MLS can’t be the whipping boys. Questions will need to be asked about player selection and tactics as well as player development and scouting at younger levels.

But until that first game with Myanmar is played May 30th, the U.S. roster represents a new era when its U-20 team is just as stacked with young professionals as any other team in the tournament and it’s hard not to view that as progress.

"In this case, obviously, we're going to the World Cup — we're hoping that we can win every game, but in order to do that, we have to win the first one, and that's a difficult challenge," Ramos said. "We'll get through it one at a time."

Brooke Tunstall is an American Soccer Now contributing editor and ASN 100 panelist. Follow him on Twitter.