Ayo Akinola to miss U20 World Cup, replaced by Julian Araujo

Associated Press
United States under-20 men's national team soccer coach Tab Ramos speaks with reporters in New York on Friday, May 10, 2019. Ramos, who played for the U.S. at three World Cups, will be coaching the Americans at the Under-20 World Cup for the fourth straight tournament. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison)

CHICAGO (AP) — Toronto forward Ayo Akinola will miss the Under-20 World Cup because of an ankle injury and has been replaced on the U.S. roster by LA Galaxy defender Julian Araujo.

Araujo has played in five games for the Galaxy this season. His addition to the roster was announced Wednesday by the U.S. Soccer Federation.

U.S. coach Tab Ramos said Philadelphia defender Mark McKenzie will captain the team for the tournament in Poland.

The U.S. opens against Ukraine on Friday, plays Nigeria three days later and closes the group stage against Qatar on May 30. The Americans were eliminated in the quarterfinals in 2015 and 2017.

The revised roster:

Goalkeepers: C.J. Dos Santos (Benfica, Portugal), David Ochoa (Salt Lake), Brady Scott (Cologne, Germany).

Defenders: Julian Araujo (LA Galaxy), Sergino Dest (Ajax, Netherlands), Chris Gloster (Hannover, Germany), Aboubacar Keita (Richmond), Mark McKenzie (Philadelphia), Matthew Real (Philadelphia), Chris Richards (Bayern Munich, Germany).

Midfielders: Edwin Cerrillo (Dallas), Chris Durkin (D.C,), Richard Ledezma (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), Alex Mendez (Freiburg, Germany), Paxton Pomykal (Dallas), Brandon Servania (Dallas).

Forwards: Konrad De La Fuente (Barcelona, Spain), Ulysses Llanez (Wolfsburg, Germany), Justin Rennicks (New England), Sebastian Soto (Hannover, Germany), Tim Weah (Celtic, Scotland).

___

More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports