Erik Palmer-Brown named to United States U-20 Preliminary Roster

Erik Palmer-Brown will be one of the Sporting KC players getting his season started early as he was named to the United States U-20 Preliminary roster for World Cup qualifying.

Palmer-Brown will be one of 35 players vying for 20 spots as the United States attempts to qualify for the 2015 U-20 World Cup in New Zealand. The qualifying tournament will take place in Jamaica.

Palmer-Brown was not named to the most recent camp in the middle of December, but he did get called up in September and earned a U-20 cap in a match against Australia. This was before his season-ending injury later in the month.

Here is the full preliminary roster.

Goalkeepers: Jeff Caldwell (Virginia), Ethan Horvath (Molde FK), Zack Steffen (SC Freiburg)

Defenders: Michael Amick (UCLA), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Tottenham Hotspur), Conor Donovan (N.C. State), Chase Gasper (UCLA), Luis Martir (Chivas Guadalajara), Matt Miazga (New York Red Bulls), Shaquell Moore (Unattached), Chris Odoi-Atsem (Maryland), Erik Palmer-Brown (Sporting Kansas City), Tommy Redding (Orlando City), John Requejo (Club Tijuana), Tyler Turner (Orlando City)

Midfielders: Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas), Fernando Arce (Club Tijuana), Corey Baird (Stanford), Russell Canouse (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim), Marco Delgado (Toronto FC), Luis Felipe (Cruzeiro), Junior Flores (Borussia Dortmund), Romain Gall (Columbus Crew), Lynden Gooch (Sunderland), Emerson Hyndman (Fulham), Zach Pfeffer (Philadelphia Union), Joel Soñora (CA Boca Juniors)

Forwards: Paul Arriola (Club Tijuana), Bradford Jamieson IV (LA Galaxy), Amando Moreno (Club Tijuana), Alex Muyl (Georgetown), Andrija Novakovich (Reading), Rubio Rubin (FC Utrecht), Ben Spencer (Indy Eleven), Tommy Thompson (San Jose Earthquakes)

The United States will open up the tournament on January 9 against Guatemala. The roster will need to be cut down by January 7, so we will know by then if Palmer-Brown is going to be playing in the tournament.