Wednesday, February 27, 2008

USA Olympic Qualifying Roster

The initial USA Olympic qualifying team roster was announced last night. They begin training on Mar 1 in Bradenton FL, with the first game on Mar 11 (also 13 & 15) in Tampa. This roster will be cut to 20 on Mar 9, and then 18 of them will suit up on game days.

-The roster:
G:
Dominic Cervi - Chicago
Tally Hall - Esbjerg
Chris Seitz - Salt Lake
D:
Maurice Edu - Toronto
Hunter Freeman - New York
Kamani Hill - Wolfsburg
Patrick Ianni - Houston
Michael Orozco - San Luis
Mike Randolph - Los Angeles
Nathan Sturgis - Salt Lake
Marvell Wynne - Toronto
M:
Arturo Alvarez - Dallas
Benny Feilhaber - Derby
Eddie Gaven - Columbus
Stuart Holden - Houston
Sacha Kljestan - Chivas USA
Dax McCarty - Dallas
Robbie Rogers - Columbus
Sal Zizzo - Hannover
F:
Freddy Adu - Benfica
Jozy Altidore - New York
Chad Barrett - Chicago
Charlie Davies - Hammarby
Robbie Findley - Salt Lake

-Three things that jump out at me right away:
1. No Jonathan Spector - we were told that he did not join the USA senior team for the game against Mexico last earlier thing month so that he could be a part of this tournament. Could he be arriving at the last minute just for the games?
2. No Michael Bradley - this is not much of a surprise because he is such an important part of his club Heerenveen. You think there is any chance he plays in the games? I don't.
3. There are three players who have been converted to defense on this roster: midfielder Maurice Edu, midfielder Nathan Sturgis and forward Kamani Hill.

Anything else of interest that you notice?

Anyone not listed here who should have been?

8 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think they might be able to add Bradley to the roster and then wait till the semis (which we better as hell make) to actually fly lil' Bradley in. Obviously it'd be best for USA to have him in right now, but his club has started bleeding and its understandable if he wants to be there for as long as he can.

9:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I wonder if these conversion of players to defenders will stick. The Maurice Edu switch seems like it could be interesting.

1:52 PM  
Blogger Bryan said...

what about Sztela? i too agree that the Edu experiment is interesting.

2:07 PM  
Blogger Brent Sokola said...

I'm pretty sure Chris Brisson should be on the list.(used to play for the mn thunder but has since moved on to another team whose name i am uncertain of.)

3:22 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

if by interesting you guys mean dumb.
why does nowak need to mess with edu's head and make him a defender.
The guys a very promising two way midfielder, why change that.
If it's because nowak needs defensive depth, maybe he should have picked different defenders. he has 1 true center back there in patrick ianni. the rest are fullbacks or d-mids.

4:10 PM  
Blogger kduffyb said...

yeah, would edu be at right or left back, does he have the speed to offer his skills at both ends, I think randolph offers this.
and kamani hill will be where?... Would he be the other center back? and why?

and at positions further up, kljestan, holden, feilhaber, and alvarez and then adu and altidore definitely will offer enough possession and talent.

4:28 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

kevin, nowak is playin edu in the center of defense. kamani hill's another player nowak thinks is better off as a defender. He's been a forward up until now.

I just get this impression of pretention from Nowak.

Anyone agree?

4:31 PM  
Blogger Jon Reardon said...

I think Spector definitely flies in last minute. Folks over on The Offside seem to agree.

Bradley; probably not - we can qualify without him, methinks, but the Frisians can't afford to have him away from the team (especially after selling Alves)

As for the three conversions, Hill seems kind of bizarre, but didn't Sturgis play mostly on the backline for LA before they shipped him off to Mormontown? In fact, check this
out - RSL can't even decide whether he's listed as a defender or midfielder!

My money's on Edu ending up playing some center back, especially when you look at who else is on the roster. One, count 'em, one known quantity at center back in Ianni. Orozco plays CB but is a bit of a wildcard to most of us fans, and he's also on the small size at 5'11". Randolph, Wynne, and Freeman all play fullback.

Plus, Edu's style would transition easier to central D than fullback, in my mind.

I initially wondered about Steve Purdy's absence, but he just turned 23 this month, which leaves the big question as this: What's it gonna take to get Neven Subotic to wear a USA jersey?

4:33 PM  

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