U.s._u-20_team_-_asn_top_-_september_2025_camp
Morning update

U.S. U-20 team concludes positive September camp, Suarez suspended, & more

ASN's Brian Sciaretta writes about the U.S. U-20 team, MLS, and the latest happening in American Soccer outside of the USMNT. 
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
September 09, 2025
10:50 AM

WITH MUCH OF THE ATTENTION in American soccer right now on the USMNT during the international window, there has been plenty of other news to cover in other areas such as youth national teams, MLS, and in the European leagues.

For now, let’s start with the U.S. U-20 team.

 

U-20 team in Spain

 

The United States U-20 national team completed a brief camp in Spain which served as a preparation for the U-20 World Cup, where the camp run-up will start after the weekend of September 21st.

But this camp was ultimately successful where the U.S. defeated Morocco 4-1 in the first game and then played to a 0-0 draw in the rematch. Ultimately it was good to see Benja Cremaschi return to the U-20 team after securing his move to Parma and both start and captain the side against Morocco. But it still seems as if his release for the World Cup is up in the air.

The big takeaway is that head coach Marko Mitrovic will likely leave this camp with confidence in his team and have a good idea of what he wants to do at the World Cup in Chile where the U.S. team will face New Caledonia on September 29, France on October 2, and South Africa on October 5.

The results this cycle have been impressive. Wins over Chile, France, South Korea, Mexico, Colombia, and Morocco; draws against Japan and Morocco; and losses against Chile and Norway.

The final World Cup roster shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Mitrovic has been able to keep the core of his team together every camp and he told American Soccer Now last week that he believes he can get any of the players involved in this recent September camp for the World Cup. He admitted that things can change with clubs but remained optimistic with regards to releases.

The World Cup roster will be released on September 18 and here is a predicted roster:

Goalkeepers (3): Diego Kochen, Adam Beaudry, Duran Ferree

Defenders (7): Matai Akinmboni, Ethan Kohler, Josh Wynder, Nolan Norris, Luca Bombino, Frankie Westfield, Reed Baker-Whiting

Midfielders (6): Pedro Soma, Taha Habroune, Brooklyn Raines, Matthew Corcoran, Niko Tsakiris, Sergio Oregel

Forwards (5): Cole Campbell, Peyton Miller, Luke Brennan, Marcos Zambrano, Zavier Gozo

Players not released by clubs: Noahkai Banks, Benja Cremaschi, Julian Eyestone

In the Mix: Serge Ngoma, David Vazquez, Aidan Harangi, Oscar Verhoeven, Mykhi Joyner, Leo Duru, Keyrol Figueroa, Gavin Beavers

 

Other Notes

 

League’s Cup Suspensions

 

The week before the international window, the Seattle Sounders defeated Inter Miami 3-0 to win the Leagues Cup. It was very well deserved given Seattle’s incredible run of performances throughout the tournament which included a perfect nine points from the group stages and a 7-0 win over Cruz Azul. It’s rewarding to see the best team win.

Inter Miami has some impressive top players but it doesn’t always come together for them – namely the playoff loss last year to Atlanta, the CONCACAF Champions Cup losses to Monterrey last year and Vancouver this year, and now this loss to Seattle to end Leagues Cup.

But now Miami is dealing with another ugly problem in how the Leagues Cup ended – with a brawl that saw Sergio Busquets punch Obed Vargas and Luis Suarez spit on an assistant coach to Seattle.

On Sunday, it was announced that both Busquets and Suarez would be suspended heavily for future Leagues Cup competitions – largely meaningless as his contract is set to expire after this season. On Monday, MLS came in and suspended Suarez for an additional three games of MLS play.

In addition, Seattle assistant coach Steven Lenhart – who has his own history of difficult behavior from his playing days, is no longer allowed on the playing field or locker rooms during games.

For some reason, Busquets was not punished by MLS for leagues games.

The punishment for Suarez was technically in line with what other players in the league have received. Hector Herrera was suspended three games for a spitting incident at the end of his last Dynamo season.

But Suarez has a very ugly history in the game and has been suspended by CAS that prevented him from playing in meaningful games for four months. This is not a first-time offender but one that brought with him risks when he signed to play for Miami. Now he is back for the end of the season and the playoffs.

His prior history should have warranted a stronger suspension. Suarez should not have been treated as any other player. MLS had a chance to take a stand and instead it appears as if Miami got let off very easy. 

 

MLS Youth

 

The last weekend saw only limited games during the international window but it was a good time for a few young American players.

Peyton Miller, 17, scored for the New England Revolution in a 3-2 loss to Chicago. That result puts the Revs nine points out of the playoffs, which gives them extremely small odds of making the postseason. If Miller is selected to play in the U-20 World Cup, he should be released.



If Miller goes to the U-20 World Cup, there is a very good chance the coming games could be his last for the Revolution as interest from European teams continues to surge.

Owen Wolff, 20, scored for Austin in a 2-1 away win over Sporting Kansas City.


The 2023 U.S. U-20 attacker now has five goals and three assists in his last seven games. He is red hot and it has helped lift Austin FC into sixth place.

 

Leverkusen manager has NCAA ties

 

Bayer Leverkusen hired former Danish national team boss Kasper Hjulmand to be the club’s next head coach after the recent and sudden firing of Erik ten Hag.

A native of Denmark, Hjulmand is a product of NCAA soccer where he played for the University of North Florida Ospreys. The university proudly congratulated its former player on his new job.

 

Hjulmand will now take over a talented team which includes U.S. national team playmaker Malik Tillman.

Post a comment

AmericanSoccerNow.