San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Niko Tsakiris, from Saratoga, was recently recruited to the national team to compete at the Concacaf U-20 Championships in Mexico, joining teammate Cruz Medina on the squad.
Meanwhile the South Bay pro team’s keeper, Emi Ochoa, was called up to play with the Mexicans, at the tournament that takes place in Celaya and Irapuato.
They had to miss out on Major League Soccer games against Sporting Kansas City, the Houston Dynamo and Minnesota United.
Tsakiris signed with the Earthquakes when he was just 16, and he’s made 16 starts for the Quakes this season.
During the U.S. Open Cup, Tsakiris assisted on the lone goal to win the team’s May 7 Round of 32 match over Oakland Roots SC, 1-0.
As of Tuesday morning, he’d already scored two goals at Concacaf.
That included the game-winner in a 1-0 victory over Costa Rica, on July 27.
The team had advanced to the quarterfinals and was prepping for its 2pm knock-out match against Guatemala.
While the United States were the defending champions, the Americans hadn’t been able to best the Central American nation the last three times they went head-to-head.
In 2011, Guatemala managed a 2-1 win; in both 2015 and 2007 their matches ended in a tie.
The North American federation tournament is open to players born on or after Jan. 1, 2005.
Tsakiris also represented the USA at the U-20 World Cup in Argentina, where he played in all three group-stage games and scored a goal against Slovakia.
Ochoa, a 19-year-old from Salinas, has been called up to both the US and Mexico Under-20 national teams, most recently with El Tri’s U-20s in June.
Going into Tuesday’s game, Tsakiris led the team in scoring—alongside Pedro Soma, Marcos Zambrano and David Vazquez.
Medina had also notched a goal on his belt.
Concacaf officials considered Tsakiris one of the “Players to watch” during the battle against Guatemala, noting he’d already got eight shots off and assisted on a goal in the group stage.
He had five goals, and two assists in the history of the tournament.
Tuesday’s game was 0-0 after the first half, in which Tsakiris helped the team control the ball 72% of the time.
Tsakiris was yanked off the field in the 60th minute, but not before USA’s Ruben Ramos, Jr. scored the game-winning goal 11 minutes earlier.
That was all it took to send the squad to the semis—and punch their ticket to the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
