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Real Salt Lake Goalkeeper David Ochoa and RSL Academy Defender Bobby Pierre Called to U.S. U-20 National Team

January 8, 2020 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


SANDY, Utah - U.S. U-20 National Team Head Coach Anthony Hudson called in Real Salt Lake goalkeeper David Ochoa as part of the roster for his first training camp in Bradenton, Florida. Ochoa is joined by third-year RSL Academy defender Bobby Pierre for the camp, which runs from January 7-19, with matches against Mexico's U-20s on January 16 and 18.

"We are extremely excited and proud to have David and Bobby called in to represent their country at the U-20 level," Real Salt Lake General Manager Elliot Fall said. "It's a tremendous honor for both of them and a further validation of the work that's being done developing players at Real Salt Lake."

A Real Salt Lake Academy product, Ochoa returns to the U.S. U-20s after helping reach the quarterfinals of the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland. He has been a regular call-up for the U.S. at the U-20 and U-18 levels since 2018.

Ochoa, 18, signed with RSL prior to the 2019 season and helped Real Monarchs SLC to the USL Championship title, going 8-4-4 with four shutouts and a 1.38 goals against average in the regular season. He then backstopped the Monarchs to four straight victories in the USL Championship Playoffs, posting a 1.15 goals against average in the process. He made his professional debut in 2018 with the Real Monarchs as an Academy call-up on April 22, 2018.

In 2017 the Oxnard, California native appeared in 14 matches for the Real Salt Lake Academy U-17s and 17 for the U-19s. He helped the U.S. contingent qualify for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup, earning shutouts in both matches he appeared in, including a 1-0 shutout of Honduras in the CONCACAF Championship semifinal round and played in two matches at the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Meanwhile, Pierre is in his third season with the RSL Academy. After playing just three matches with the U-17s in the 2017-18 season, he notched 22 matches at the U-17 level in the 2018-19 season, scoring one goal. This season, he has six starts for the RSL U-19s, who are currently 1-1-2 (5 points) in the USSDA Frontier-Red Division and 0-2-2 (2 points) in the DA Cup's Pac-NW/Mountain Division.

The training camp will provide Hudson his first chance to work with the U-20 player pool ahead of this summer's Concacaf U-20 Championship, where the USA will look to defend its confederation title after winning the 2017 and 2019 editions. The U.S. is set to take on Costa Rica, Jamaica and St. Kitts and Nevis in the group stage of the tournament.

U-20 USMNT ROSTER BY POSITION:

GOALKEEPERS (4): David Ochoa (Real Salt Lake; Oxnard, Calif.), Chituru Odunze (Leicester City/ENG; London, England), John Pulskamp (Sporting Kansas City; Bakersfield, Calif.), Patrick Schulte (St. Louis University; Saint Charles, Mo.)

DEFENDERS (10): Jacob Akanyirige (San Jose Earthquakes; Pleasanton, Calif.), Nico Benalcazar (Wake Forest; Wilton, Conn.), Kevin Bonilla (FC Dallas; Dallas, Texas), Nathan Harriel (Philadelphia Union; Oldsmar, Fla.), Ian Hoffmann (Karlsruher/GER; Bethany Beach, Del.), Blake Malone (North Carolina; Las Vegas, Nev.), Kurowskybob Pierre (Real Salt Lake Academy; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), Andre Reynolds II (Chicago Fire FC; Chicago, Ill.), Stuart Ritchie (Hannover 96/GER; Pleasanton, Calif.), Leonardo Sepulveda (Salamanca/ESP.; Corona, Calif.)

MIDFIELDERS (5): Cole Bassett (Colorado Rapids; Littleton, Colo.), Leon Flach (St. Pauli/GER; Bad Schwartau, Germany), Aidan Morris (Columbus Crew S.C.; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), Marcelo Palomino (Houston Dynamo; Houston, Texas), Thomas Roberts (FC Dallas; Little Rock, Ark.)

FORWARDS (5): Gianluca Busio (Sporting Kansas City; Greensboro, N.C.), Cameron Harper (Celtic/SCO; Roseville, Calif.), Matko Miljevic (Argentinos Juniors/ARG; Miami, Fla.), Dante Sealy (FC Dallas; Frisco, Texas), Marlon Vargas (Seattle Sounders FC.; Bakersfield, Calif.)

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