Photo by ISI Photos
U.S. Under-23 national team coach Peter Nowak has named a 24-man roster for training camp ahead of next month’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Jozy Altidore, Freddy Adu, Maurice Edu and Chris Seitz were among the standouts chosen.
Players not on the training camp roster include Michael Bradley and Jonathan Spector, who could still be added to the official 20-man Olympic qualifying roster up until two days prior to the tournament, which begins on March 11 in Tampa.
The United States will face Cuba (March 11), Panama (March 13) and Honduras (March 15), with the top-two teams in the four-team group advancing to the tournament semifinals in Nashville, Tennessee on March 20 (The other qualifying group includes Mexico, Canada, Guatemala and Hait). The winners of the two semifinals will automatically qualify for the Olympics in China.
If you are wondering about Bradley and Spector, they could still be added to the qualifying roster and it is believed that one or both may travel to Nashville to take part in the semifinal match, assuming the Americans reach the semis as expected.
Here is the complete roster:
GOALKEEPERS: Dominic Cervi (Chicago Fire), Tally Hall (Esbjerg fB), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake)
DEFENDERS: Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Hunter Freeman (New York Red Bulls), Kamani Hil (Vfl Wolfsburg), Patrick Ianni (Houston Dynamo), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Mike Randolph (LA Galaxy), Nathan Sturgis (Real Salt Lake), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)
MIDFIELDERS: Arturo Alvarez (FC Dallas), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Dax McCarty (FC Dallas), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), Sal Zizzo (Hannover 96)
FORWARDS: Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), Jozy Altidore (New York Red Bulls), Chad Barrett (Chicago Fire), Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake)
So what will the starting lineup look like? Here’s one crack at what it could look like for the first round matches:
———————-Altidore————————-
Alvarez—————-Adu——————–Holden
—————Kljestan—–Feilhaber—————-
Freeman——-Sturgis—–Edu————–Wynne
————————-Seitz————————–
What could a semifinal lineup look like? Here’s one possibility:
———————-Altidore————————-
Alvarez—————-Adu——————–Holden
—————Bradley—–Feilhaber—————-
Spector——-Sturgis—–Edu————–Freeman
————————-Seitz————————–
What lineup do you see being used? What do you think of the roster? Share your thoughts below.