U.S. men's national team veterans Brek Shea, Juan Agudelo and Freddy Adu headline a strong 19-man roster for the U.S. Men's Olympic Qualifying squad.
U.S. Under-23 head coach Caleb Porter announced the team on Monday and the only real surprise was the omission of Hertha Berlin midfielder/defender Alfredo Morales, whose release was not mandatory for the tournament.
Here is the squad:
U.S. OLYMPIC QUALIFYING ROSTER
GK- Bill Hamid, Sean Johnson
D- Josh Gatt, Perry Kitchen, Ike Opara, Zarek Valentin, Kofie Sarkodie, Jorge Villafana
M- Freddy Adu, Joe Corona, Mix Diskerud, Michael Stephens, Amobi Okugo, Jared Jeffrey
F- Terrence Boyd, Brek Shea, Juan Agudelo, Joe Gyau, Teal Bunbury
Another notable omission from the roster is midfielder Dilly Duka, but he suffered an injury in the early moments of the Columbus Crew's season-opening loss to the Colorado Rapids.
According to a U.S. Soccer press release, one player, presumably Duka, withdrew from consideration on Monday afternoon after sustaining an injury. Porter is expected to find a replacement once he secures a release from that player's club. The two favorites to round out the roster before the March 20 deadline are Morales and West Ham United midfielder Sebastian Lletget.
Boyd, who made his debut with the full U.S. team last month, will report to camp on March 21.
"Obviously, our mission is to qualify for the 2012 summer Olympics and this roster is a culmination of a long process to select what we feel is the best team this country has to offer in the U-23 age group," said Porter in the press release. "For the past four training camps we have been comprehensively evaluating the most talented personnel available from an extensive player pool comprised of professional players on clubs in this country and abroad.
"We always keep in mind its important to find the best mix collectively so that we can build a cohesive team capable of accomplishing our goal. I feel very confident in this collection of players and their ability to execute the playing style we believe will best represent their talents and get us to London."
The United States will kick off its Olympic qualifying campaign on March 22 in Nashville, Tenn against Cuba. The Americans follow that up with a game against Canada two days later, and they finish group play versus El Salvador on March 26.
Should the U.S. team advance out of Group A, the decisive match to determine if it qualifies for the Olympics would be on March 31 at Livestrong Sporting Park in Kansas City.
"This is a tremendous opportunity for these young players to get valuable experience in international competition and ultimately qualify for the 2012 Olympics," U.S. men's national team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann said in the press release. "Playing the Olympic Games is a once in a lifetime chance, and we are fully supporting their efforts to qualify.
"Some of these players will continue their international careers on the senior team in the future, and these situations allow them the chance to grow individually and experience the ups and downs national teams go through, which is so important for their development."
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What do you think of this team? Who are you disappointed to see missing from the squad? Who are you excited to see play in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament?
Share your thoughts below.
Do we get an over 23 selection for the Olympics, like last time?
There’s one more player who’s supposed to be named after he’s released from his club. Any guesses??
There goes my fantasy team
Rumor has it that it’ll be Adam Cristman
Any idea which ones will only be released for the do-or-die semifinal?
I didnt think Alfredo Morales would be released by his club to play. However I do see the ommission of Sheanon Williams a pretty big surprise.
Why Gatt is being pushed in as a defender for club and country is beyond me. At least he’s there, though.
Why Morales is out¿ . Someone tell me
Damn fine looking squad. It’s a shame some of our brightest young central defenders are just over the age limit.
+1
What about the guy who showed well in one of the scrimmages. Someone help me with his name… Dilly Duka?
Because all of the other wingers and forwards are better. He has more of a shot at the right back position.
WOOTEN for BUNBURY and I’m satisfied
Oh yea and Sheanon Williams >>>>>>>>Kofie Sarkodie any day of the week
It better be Alfredo Morales or Andrew Wooten
Gotta think the extra slot will go to Morales, he looked great against Mexico… also surprised Porter rates Sarkodi better than Williams, I know the Akron link but comeon Sarkodi’s been awful…
Can’t wait to see this group together with Shea, Boyd, Gyau potentially playing in front of Mix, Adu, Morales or Okugo, damn that’s some nice offensive weapons there.
Whats the word on the Sebastian Lletget omission? Is Duka Hurt? Would’ve rather seen more Tony Taylor than Teal Bunbury. Disappointing that Morales wasn’t available. But most of what I said before sticks.
Qualifying
Shea———-Boyd————Gyau
———————–Adu———–
——–Diskerud———————
—————Okugo—————-
Valentin—Opara—Kitchen—Sarkodie/Gatt
—————Hamid—————–
Who I’d like to see at the Olympics(If players are healthy and released) Basically the future of the USMNT when the Dempsey/Donovan era is over.
Shea———-Altidore————Gyau
———————–Adu———–
——–Bradley———————
————–D.Williams—————
F.Johnson—Opara—G.Cameron—Chandler
—————Hamid—————–
Assuming that we qualify, yes… but we didn’t qualify in 2004, and Mexico has missed out on several. Nothing is for certain (DON’T JYNX US).
Duka over Stephens? Not sure who’s better but I thought Duka was solid when he played. Alfredo Morales would be nice here too. His club probably didn’t want him playing.
Not until the actual olympic tournament when you can select 3.
With his current team situation the only reason I’d want Wooten away from his club is if he was a sure starter. He’d likely sit behind Agudelo and Boyd, therefor his omission from the team is probably better for Wooten in the long run.
If he can break into his squad’s first team and start contributing he may find himself at the Olympics when they finally roll around.
Thierry??
i find that hard to believe. Shea, Gyau and Corona are the only true wingers on the team. Hard to believe that 4 wingers is too much or that he is not one of the top 3 in that group.
we will see what Porter has going on in his mind soon.
Nice line-up especially the final Olympic game team. Lletget is probably still coming back from injury which is too bad. I’m with you on Duka being left off. I don’t remember Olympic qualifying being so exciting before this. Reason has to be the improved youth ranks the US has.
Duka is better but he left the opening day game after 10 minutes, must be injured.
because he plays for his club team
AKRON ZIPSS
I know this probably means nothing but the FC Dallas website has a list of the U23 players (link to fcdallas.com). There are 20 players listed and to throw another possibility in there besides Wooten and Morales, the 20th player listed is Tony Taylor.
Surprised with the Lleget omission for Stephens…. was he not released?
I will help you with the fact that he is injured.
I guess Boss made a stupid decision by not signing with MLS.
He was banking on making the Olympic squad and getting a big transfer.
Good looking out but i hope its wrong
Thank you sir.
I’m sorry Spencer. I don’t follow.
I’m under the impression that he is inured at the moment. A hamstring injury sticks out in my mind.
Giant understatement.
Corona’s more of a CAM anyway so I would think he’ll play RW regardless of what the roster says. (at least he’ll get a chance)
Too bad Morales won’t be there, but heck I’m just excited to watch this team play. Looks like our most talented Olympic squad yet.
Does anybody actually read the story before posting their remarks??
All of your questions are answered if you just read the article.
Very true.
+100000
Seriously reading answers a lot of queston
In the dozen Galaxy games I’ve watched Stephens has been timid and poor. He and Sarkodie are the weakest selections.
+2!
Damn my plus 2 looms weak now haha
What ever happened to Fabian Herzeler?
Man vs. Food – nice choice.
He keeps getting called up by Germany so he is sticking with them.
The German that got away…
he last played a friendly with the German U-19s
Or what? You’ll continue to know less about soccer than the people whoade the decision?
Well 97% of this team I like but please Stephen pls. I’m a galaxy fan but he is not that good pls find another player how about one of farfan from the phylly union. Or maybe another euro player. But so far I see a strong team and I hope this teamis hungry for a medal and to really the desire to go to the Olympic and not under estimate the opponents like the U20 did a year ago.
As a percentage you added almost nothing!
He’ll be back eventually. Book it. U-19s are one thing, but he’s not breaking into the German central midfield.
Pretty sure the Farfans are too old.
I would have preferred Lletget to Stephens…
England will be there.
JW, I agree with your point, but I just couldn’t resist and had to mention England that gets an automatic qualification as the host.
Adu played well on the right wing against Mexico and did really well. Agudelo can also play on the wing. Gatt’s best asset is his speed, but other attacking players that will play on the wing are more technical and Porter values their ability to maintain possession over raw speed. But Porter is a very smart coach and he will not hesitate to put Gatt on the wing if he believes that Gatt is his best option there. Being listed at a particular position does not mean a whole lot – as I mentioned earlier Adu played as the right forward in 4-3-3 formation against Mexico, but is listed as a midfielder here.
It could be his club situation. He is breaking into the starting 11 at his club and is a fairly regular sub off the bench. It might have been a conscious decision not to call him to improve his chances to become a regular starter for his club. Timing is everything.
There won’t be an english team, there will be a united kingdom team.
(also couldn’t resist)
Think it might have something more to do with not taking 3 player from the Union then simply rating Sarkodie higher then Williams.
He would have a hard time breaking into ours too.
Lletget has been knocking on the door of the first team for West Ham maybe it’s them not wanting to release him a la Spector? But as many has stated Lletget does look better then Stephan though.
I thought I heard Morales had been released earlier today…
He’s fast as hell and versatile enough to play D or MF. He’ll probably man the bench, though.
I agree that Wooten’s more of an asset than Bunbury, but Teal is 3rd in line for CF. Probably won’t see much playing time.
It’s better for the USMNT in the long run if Wooten breaks into the Kaiserslautern 18, or even the XI. If they stave off relegation, he (and the US) could reap the benefits of having a forward get regular time in the Bundesliga.
Multiple choice question:
Who saw both players in camp recently for an extended period of time?
A) You
B) Caleb Porter
Morales devastated Mexico’s mids. When he left the pitch he was barely containing his maniacal laughter.
I like the kid.
Gatt plays both positions for Molde and stated that he is comfortable there.
Also, it seems the Akron 4-3-3 could always use a speedy attacking right back and Gatt making runs from deep can be pretty frightening.
we can go all the way with this squad. ALL THE WAY
Folks Duka is hurt! That is why he is not included.
Thanks for your optimism. I wish this was the first thing in everyones’ minds. Get behind our team now.
or the american that germany poached? hmmmmm.
Hilarious Indigo…….Cristman sux man!
Really like the Olympic line-up as well. As my subs I would take Johsnon, Kitchen (CB/DM), Valentin (anywhere on the backline), Gatt (RB/RW), Diskerud (6/8/10), Agudelo (F/W), and Boyd (F). With those subs, you have a ton of versatility and the ability to fill in at almost every position.
No dogg he’s legit
What do you mean?
Does anyone know if these games will be televised? I don’t see anything listed on USsoccer.com
i believe he’s referring to Gonzo, John, Cameron and Ream…
Luke,
Posting before the first cup of coffee is dangerous,according to the surgeon general… here’s a cut and paste from US Soccer site for the first game, for example:
March 22, 2012 @ 8 p.m. CT
Universal Sports Network, Telemundo
You are absolutely right!
I think concacaf.com will also have a live stream. Not sure if its free though.
This was discussed in a prior thread, but I wanted to follow up on it.
In july of 2008, a fifa appointed single judge ruled clubs were obligated to release any under 23s for the tournament: link to tinyurl.com (courtesy of northzax).
Then in august of 2008, a court of arbitration for sport threw out the single judge’s ruling and declared clubs were not obligated to release _any_ players since the olympics didn’t fall on a recognized fifa international date: link to tinyurl.com.
The ruling led to this grant wahl piece in august of 2008: link to tinyurl.com.
Does anyone know if fifa took any action in the past four years to address the issue? This summer’s games are once again conspicuously absent from the fifa international calendar.
I’m not a lawyer and i’ve never even played one on tv or film, so I have no idea.
Anyone know what the universal sports network is?
Bring in Luis Silva to replace Stephens.
I have heard that McHead wants another shot at the gold.
He’s legitimately bad. If we’re going to call up a crappy American who can’t finish then might I suggest another Galaxy favorite, Chad Barrett.
i think Morales will end up getting called in. but i think the reason him, Wooten and Lletget didn’t get the call was because they are close to breaking into the first team with their clubs. like others have said, it hurts the US team in the short term, but in the long term it’s going to be great. this team is still very strong.
Thanks, thought I was going crazy for a second.
I hope Mr Caleb Porter keeping an eye for Wooten he just had a Hat-Trick for U23 K. link to yanks-abroad.com
I just hope Caleb don’t do the same that Thomas did with Subotic and we ended up loosing another player cause he was not call in. Wooten for Teal, and Any other player for Stephen sorry he is just not ready yet.
What about Luis Gil as a possible call up? I know he is only 18 but he has been doing really well in mid-field for an extremely deep and talented RSL team. As an RSL fan, I would hate to lose him for parts of the season but I am surprised that he has not even been mentioned.