FRISCO, Texas - FC Dallas midfielder Dax McCarty and defender / midfielder Blake Wagner will join the United States Under-20 Men's National Team next week in Canada and face their northern rivals twice during a weeklong training camp. Members of the U.S. team will arrive on July 3 and face the Canadian U-20 Men's National Team on July 7 in Toronto at Rogers Centre (formerly SkyDome) in Toronto at 8:30pm CT.
Two days later, on July 9, the teams will battle once again, this time in Richardson Stadium at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, at 2:30 p.m. ET. The players are scheduled to return on July 10.
Overall, the U.S. has beaten Canada by one goal in each of their last four meetings since 2003. The last meeting between the two CONCACAF rivals took place last year in Blaine, Minn., ahead of the FIFA U-20 World Championship in Holland. The U.S. fell behind early after a goal from Will Johnson, but bounced back with goals from Eddie Gaven and Freddy Adu to pull out a 2-1 victory.
The U.S. is coming off a successful 10-day training camp in Argentina this past April where they went 1-1-1 during the trip. The U.S. drew, 2-2, against Arsenal de Sarandi U-20 in their first match on April 22, getting goals from Preston Zimmerman and Dax McCarty. Two days later, the U-20s defeated River Plate U-20, 1-0, on a goal by forward David Arvizu. In their first international match of the year on April 26, the U.S. fell to Argentina, 4-0.
Canada just wrapped up a three-game, tri-city series against the Brazil U-20 Men's National Team. Canada defeated Brazil, 2-1, in the series opener in Edmonton, before losing the next two in Victoria and Vancouver by the same 3-1 score line.
Canada will host the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup from June 30-July 22 (tentative dates) across six cities - Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton, Burnaby, and Victoria. The biennial event is second only to the FIFA World Cup in size and scope and will showcase the most talented youth soccer players in the world.
