Nov. 13, 2008
Greenville, S.C. -
Furman freshman Warren Creavalle has been named to the United States Under-20 Men's National Team roster for its November 15-23, trip to Madrid, Spain, where it will play friendlies against reserve teams from Real Madrid, Athletico Madrid and Rayo Vallecano.
U.S. U-20 head coach Thomas Rongen named the Paladin midfielder as a late addition to his roster this week after Furman was eliminated from the Southern Conference Tournament on Saturday and ended its season with an 11-8-1 record.
"This is a tremendous honor for Warren and a great opportunity for him to gain national team experience playing against three of the top clubs in Spain," said Furman head coach Doug Allison. "It's great to see another Furman player get a chance to prove himself in the United States National Team program."
Creavalle, who earned second team All-SoCon honors and SoCon All-Freshman team honors this season, will arrive in Madrid on Sunday to begin training with the United States team. The Acworth, Ga., native and his U.S. teammates will face Real Madrid on November 19, Athletico Madrid on November 20, and Rayo Vallecano on November 22, before returning to the United States the following day.
The U.S. squad boasts professional players who play in seven different leagues around the world, including a pair from Germany's Hertha Berlin in Bryan Arguez and Alfredo Morales and a duo from Major League Soccer's FC Dallas in Josh Lambo and Anthony Wallace. Tristan Bowen of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Jorge Flores of Chivas USA and Abdusalam Ibrahim from Toronto FC round out the MLS contingent.
Creavalle, who tallied two goals and an assist while playing 18 matches for the Paladins at holding midfield, is the only collegiate player on the final 18-man roster.
Creavalle is one of five players with Paladin ties to earn playing time with one of the U.S. National Team sides in the last year. Former Paladins Clint Dempsey and Ricardo Clark have each earned starts with the full national team while last year's SoCon Player-of-the-Year Jon Leathers received a call-up last winter to play for the U.S. U-23 team. Current Furman defender Chris Klute was a member of the U.S. U-17 World Cup team last year.
The U-20 Men's National Team is preparing for CONCACAF Under-20 World Cup qualifying, which will take place in Trinidad early in 2009.
