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Williams added to official U.S. U-23 Olympic qualifying roster

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photo by John Dorton/ISIphotos.com

The U.S. Under-23 men's national team tasked with reaching this summer's Olympics is set, and the lone addition to the preliminary squad is Sheanon Williams.

The Philaelphia Union right back was summoned by head coach Caleb Porter on Tuesday to replace defender Josh Gatt, who was recalled by his club this past weekend.

With the CONCACAF deadline to submit rosters now in the rear-view mirror, no more changes can be made to the 20-man squad, which will be captained by Freddy Adu.

Here is the official roster:

GK- Bill Hamid, Sean Johnson

D- Perry Kitchen, Ike Opara, Zarek Valentin, Kofi Sarkodie, Jorge Villafana, Sheanon Williams

M- Freddy Adu, Joe Corona, Mix Diskerud, Michael Stephens, Amobi Okugo, Jared Jeffrey

F- Terrence Boyd, Brek Shea, Juan Agudelo, Joe Gyau, Teal Bunbury, Tony Taylor

The U.S. team's Group A opponents, Canada, El Salvador and Cuba, also finalized their roster at the CONCACAF deadline.

The United States begins its Olympic qualifying by facing Cuba on March 22, followed by a game versus Canada two days later. The Americans close out their group games on March 26 against El Salvador.

All games will be played at LP Field in Nashville, Tenn. The matches will be aired live on Universal Sports Network, mun2 and streamed live on concacaf.com

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What do you think of the addition of Williams? Wish someone else would have been summoned, or are you happy with the selection? Do you see this team qualifying for the Olympics?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I think it’s fair comment to say we’ll see how the U23s stack up when the games start to count. However, I think anyone looking at the roster objectively would share my impression that the attacking talent includes several US senior pool players, including Shea and Agudelo, whereas the defense sometimes is nothing more than young MLS players, some of whom don’t even start for their sides (Sarkodie). I don’t even think it’s a close question which end of the field is better-staffed, it’s the offense by far. Now, Brazil’s 23 year olds might expose the lot of them and that is a fair point, but the defense will crack first. If Sarkodie is abused by Zakuani in a regular fixture how’s he going to stop Neymar? In contrast, Shea might show up some name defenders.

    The x factor for the US is the GKing, which will include players like Hamid who are in the senior pipeline.

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  2. Goalkeepers are best when they use their head not their body.

    Edwin Van Der Sar would go through periods when he would make very few saves. Granted he had good teams but he read the game in front of him very well.

    He led and organized his defenses and positioned himself so well that the need for him to make saves was kept to a minimum.

    The best saves are the ones that, by positioning yourself and your defenders properly, you never have to make.

    If he was was a better keeper Hamid would not have had to make so many spectacular saves. He has potential but he has a very long way to go and a ton to learn.

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