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USA U-23 camp gets underway in Florida

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Photo by Michael Janosz/ISIphotos.com

The next step in selecting the team that will be charged with qualifying the United States for the Olympics is underway, as United States Under-23 coach Caleb Porter holds his December training camp in Lakewood Ranch, Fla. A group of 30 players has been called in for the next week, where they'll aim to catch Porter's eye and build a foundation for the coming months.

Among the players called in are Philadelphia Union midfielder Freddy Adu, Duisburg camp standouts Terrence Boyd and Mixx Diskerud, Mexican-American attacker Joe Corona, collegiate standouts Andrew Wenger, Kelyn Rowe and Sebastien Ibeagha and first-time call-in and FC Nurnberg German-American forward Jann George.

The road to roster selection has been carved out by Porter, who has turned his full attention to the U-23 team after finishing up another season at Akron.

Porter said that in addition to this camp, he'll be holding 10-day camps in January and February prior to a final camp that leads into March's qualifying matches. Following the January camp, Porter said he is planning on taking a group to Central America for a pair of friendlies.

"Training is important, but we need to get games," Porter said in an interview with U.S. Soccer. "We need to be tested. Ultimately, the results are what matter, and in qualifying you’re building toward getting results in games.

"We need to start seeing the group and the individuals in games so we can evaluate them and work out tactics, the way we're going to play, the way that we're going to plan for games. We want to get a couple hard games, in hopefully an uncomfortable environment, where we’re playing teams that are similar to the level we’re going to see in qualifying."

SBI will be providing coverage from Lakewood Ranch throughout the next week.

In the meantime, which players are you hoping to see excel and cement their places on the qualifying roster? What do you think of Porter's comments and plan for the months ahead?  

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Caleb Porter will be remembered by how the defense performs. Period. All this other stuff is important, but the bottom line is how he is going to get a solid performance out of a group of defenders that appear to not be at all ready for the challenge. We have tons of talent throughout the lineup – except in the defense. If Porter manages to qualify so that he can re-enforce the back with overage players. He will have gained my eternal respect.

    Basically, he has got to find a way to win a tough semi-final game. It will be interesting to see what he does.

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  2. I like Porter’s comments…he’s right. I like how he doesn’t duck the fact that results are the bottom line, period.

    get it done boys!

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  3. Nowak’s team ended up playing pretty well last season, improved as the season wore on. I remember reading here posters who claimed he was “running that team into the ground.”

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  4. SD,….you have no idea how far this country has come in the last 20 years. A few weeks ago we had two POOLS (U-20 and U-23s) training in Germany which were comprised entirely of professional players,…not to mention that the three coaches overseeing the camp were all former professional and international players!

    In the late eighties,….those pools would have been 98% amateur.

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  5. if it weren’t for the fact that the olympics fall on non-fifa dates, we could actually have a squad of professional players….what an amazing accomplishment…

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  6. after watching some of the odd choices PeedrNovak made with Philly’s lineup this season, I think it’s difficult to say he plays games with Adu… he actually plays games with everybody!

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  7. Also want to see a few forwards and a few defenders emerge from this Olympic team who are ready for senior team. This is massive group and it will also be interesting to see if the German kids standout again.

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  8. ha, one should hope. Nowak does seem to love his head games with Freddy. I remember Freddy’s last year in DC, he was our most vibrant attacker, and was subbed off when the game could have really used him. Hope there’s some level of play acceptable in Nowak’s opinion.

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  9. Personally I’m most interested in the Defense & Striker options. Who ultimately makes the squad for Qualification and the Olympic Games will have a real oportinity to advance to the Senior National Team. And since we have an aging backline and still haven’t found a partner (or Depth) for Jozy these are the area’s I’m hoping the U-23 team will answer.

    Defenders I’m hoping have good showings:

    Zerek Valentin (LB & RB), Sheanon Williams (RB), Gale Agbossoumode (has he been playing enough in Germany to warrent his inclusion?)

    Strikers:

    Terrence Boyd – Is he for real? ready to step up? Teal Bunbury – Is he ready for the Senior Team?

    Joe Gyau – How close is he?

    Midfielders:

    Since the Senior National team is pretty well set for midfielders… All I’m hoping for is a couple stand-outs on the Offensive side who can add depth to the senior team. A winger and a CAM type player.

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  10. Porter has said he has 50 players he is considering. He will likely not have Altidore, Chandler, or Diskerud and Boyd and maybe not even Adu or Aguedelo for the qualifiers (I don’t think clubs have to release players for the qualifiers, still I think it is unlikely an MLS team would not release a player for the qualifiers). Since those guys will all likely be in the Olympics, he does need to have others who can both provide the talent needed to qualify, and who will not be a locker-room distraction if/when they are replaced by one of those 6 or one of the 3 over-age players. It will require some understanding of the players’ mentality.
    I think he has a very difficult task ahead of him.

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  11. How many of the international players are going to be able to get away from their clubs for 10 days in both January, February and then for the March tournament?

    That would seem to be a problem that may come up.

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  12. This is good stuff..I like the agressive approach we are taking…any idea when the roster for the full USMNT January camp is being released?

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