Bulls (not) Abroad: Injury keeps Marcello Borges out of USA U-20 squad for CONCACAF Championship

It is not immediately clear why US U-20 Men's National Team head coach selected a final squad for the 2017 CONCACAF U-20 Championship that includes no obvious starting left back, but that is what he did. The coach's intentions will become clear once the tournament gets underway.

What is known, however, is that a coach can only pick the players that are available for selection. New York Red Bulls Academy product and rumored RBNY target for a Homegrown contract, Marcello Borges, had been a regular starter for Ramos during the current U-20 cycle. As recently as mid-January, he seemed a solid bet to make the U-20 roster for February's CONCACAF tournament.

But he didn't make the final cut.

Still reason to believe, however, that Borges might have a shot at playing in the U-20 World Cup later this year - assuming his teammates can secure qualification for that tournament by achieving a top-four finish in the upcoming CONCACAF competition. We don't know exactly why other specialist left backs were excluded from Ramos' CONCACAF Championship squad, but we do know Marcello Borges is currently injured.

Disappointed that injury will keep me out of u20 World Cup qualifying. I wish the best to the boys in their process

— Marcello Borges (@13_mborges) February 9, 2017

Hopefully, he's fit again in time to compete for a place on the U-20 World Cup roster that it is expected Ramos will need to select after the CONCACAF Championship's conclusion.