Chicago Fire winger Benji Joya scored two goals to lead the US Under-21 national team to a 2-1 win over a Club Tijuana reserve side at the National Training Center in Carson, Calif., on Wednesday, capping a five-day training camp under coach Tab Ramos.
Joya, who captained the US U-20 squad last year, notched both tallies in the second half, while current US U-20 standout and former New York Red Bulls Homegrown player Amando Moreno netted the consolation for the visitors from Mexico.
“[I'm] very happy. We only had two real training sessions before the game,” Ramos, who also led the US U-20s in the Dallas Cup last week, told TopDrawerSoccer.com afterward. “It was really good for us to get the group together and see where everybody is.”
Wednesday's match featured a bevy of current or former MLSers, with the likes of Christian Dean (Vancouver), Shane O'Neill (Colorado), Jack McBean (LA) and Collin Martin (D.C. United) among those seeing minutes.
That even extended to the opposition, with Xolos fielding Moreno and former LA Galaxy academy prospect Paul Arriola.
