Olympic Team Roster Thread

[Gian-Luca]

It's not looking promising boys.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/shownews.jsp?content=s011447A

Canadian Olympic soccer team faces challenge in getting players released

SUNRISE, Fla. (CP) - While Frank Yallop begins to assemble his World Cup team, Olympic coach Bruce Twamley should be putting the final touches on his under-23 side.

But questions remain about whether European clubs will release his top players for the final CONCACAF qualifying tournament in Mexico Feb. 2-12. While negotiations continue with overseas teams, Twamley has been working with a partial squad in Florida since Boxing Day.

Twamley's camp has been a revolving door, with players coming in and out.

He had 11 players in camp Wednesday and two of those were on the limp. A third, defender Victor Oppong, left midway through practice to rejoin his German club FC Saarbrucken.

On the plus side, captain Chris Pozniak, Rocco Placentino and David Masciantonio are due to arrive in camp down the line.

Currently missing are the likes of Iain Hume (Tranmere Rovers, England), Mike Klukowski (La Louviere, Belgium), Tam Nsaliwa (SSV Jahn Regensburg, Germany), Maycoll Canizalez (Werder Bremen, Germany), Julian de Guzman (Hannover 96, Germany), Atiba Hutchinson (Osters, Sweden, but being pursued by a slew of teams) and Terry Dunfield (Bury, England).

"We're having problems with some of the clubs getting the players," Twamley said Wednesday after practice.

"It changes day by day. Some days I think we're going to get them and other days . . . some of the feedback is not very encouraging. We have to wait and see."

Ironically the success of Canadians overseas can hurt the national team program. Hume, for example, scored the goal that knocked Premier League side Bolton out of the FA Cup on Tuesday. That just makes him more valuable to Tranmere Rovers.

The world governing body of soccer isn't much help. FIFA has ruled clubs don't have to release players for Olympic qualifying.

The timing of the CONCACAF tournament doesn't help either. It is not synchronized with the European international schedule, meaning top clubs will be in action.

"It comes with the territory," Twamley says philosophically. "Throughout the world, everybody has to put up with different situations that are difficult. What you have to do is pretty much do the best you can under the circumstances. You can't make excuses. There's only certain things you control."

So Twamley tries to see the glass as half-full. The weather in Florida has been perfect, those in camp have done well and the squad had an exhibition game in Martinique (a 2-2 tie).

But even with a full squad, Canada has a mountain to climb in Guadalajara. Twamley's team is in a pool with the U.S., Honduras and Panama with the top two crossing over to meet the No. 1 and 2 teams from the other pool of Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Costa Rica.

The two finalists at the tournament will secure berths in the Athens tournament this summer.

Canada's goal will be to win its group, thus avoiding a probable matchup with the hometown Mexicans in the semifinals. That will probably mean getting past the Americans.

The U.S. will be a formidable opponent, led by World Cup star Landon Donovan, the glamour boy of U.S. soccer with a reported annual salary in excess of $350,000 US, and speedster DaMarcus Beasley.

And the Americans won't have any problems assembling their squad. Only one player, forward Casey Conor (FC Karlsruher, Germany), from their initial 25-man roster plays outside of the U.S.

Canada has played the U.S. twice in recent years at this level, trading 2-0 wins. Both teams were missing players.

Other countries in the region, which covers North and Central America and th Caribbean, have strong domestic leagues and will be able to pick from a full talent pool.

In qualifying to date, the Canadians thumped the U.S. Virgin Islands by a two-game aggregate of 24-0 and edged El Salvador on penalties after the home-and-away series ended in a 1-1 aggregate.

The November game in El Salvador was the only time Twamley had his full squad, although even then he did not have Hume. Team officials elected to leave him out, knowing he was already going to miss time with his club while at the world under-20 championships.

While his final roster remains up in the air, Twamley has some personnel decisions made already.

Andrew Olivieri played well in goal against El Salvador and "right now, it's his job to lose," says Twamley.

As captain, defender Pozniak is an automatic selection alongside Adam Braz and Oppong. Winston Marshall will join them if he recovers in time from a pelvis injury.

Hutchinson, Placentino, Masciantonio and Mathieu Savaria will also play their part.

But there is real doubt about whether de Guzman, Nsaliwa, Klukowski and Hume will be available. All four have seen action with the senior side.

Canada last qualified for the Olympics in 1984, when it lost to Brazil on penalty kicks in the quarter-finals.

Notes: Dwayne DeRosario and Nick Dasovic scored in a nine-on-nine scrimmage Wednesday morning involving Olympic and senior players ... World Cup defender Carl Fletcher saw limited action, nursing a knock.

[beachesl]

Hmmm, was always gonna be a problem with fixture congestion , and always an uphill battle even if we got a full A-team. We were lucky to get so many good players for the U-20 tourney in the UAE, even with FIFA "rule" for releases, which is often sidetracked. The good side of NOT qualifying is that we have a stronger bench for the WCQ semi-final opener on August 18 ( a priority) when the Olympic tournament is also on. It'll be a real victory if we do qualify against the odds. Carpe diem boys!

[Gian-Luca]

I'm not throwing in the towel, but I am certainly a lot less optimistic than I once was about our chances after reading that paragraph about there being "real doubt" that Hume, Klukowski, Nsaliwa & De Guzman will play - that's our four best players, IMO. If we qualify without those four, it's a sign of some pretty darn good depth at the Olympic level.

[shaku_bert]

I have read on a Bury fan board that their new manager has persuaded Terry Dunfield not to join our boys in Mexico.

[Gian-Luca]

Dunfield would have been good cover for the likes of De Guzman, Klukowski etc. ........at this rate we might have to qualify with our U20 team.

[matthew]

On a positive note, Adrian Cann is getting rave reviews at the combine. We can certainly use another center back. Hopefully he gets consideration and even more importantly hopefully he gets drafted by MLS tomorrow. It would be great to a see a new central defense prospect come through the ranks and out of nowhere (err Louisville).

cheers,

matthew

[Gian-Luca]

Here's the almost final US Roster - but note in the press release that Conor Casey and Onyewu have been left off the squad because their European clubs will not play them play in the qualifiers. Onyewu plays for La Louviere, Mike Klukowski's team, so if they said no to the US I doubt they would say yes to Canada.

Myernick Names Travel Roster for Olympic Qualifying

1/22/04 8:30 AM

CHICAGO (Thursday, January 22, 2004) — U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team head coach Glenn “Mooch” Myernick announced a 22-player roster that will travel down to Guadalajara, Mexico, this afternoon in advance of the 2004 CONCACAF Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament from Feb. 2-12. The team will train for seven days before Myernick must cut down the roster to 20 players by the Jan. 31 deadline imposed by CONCACAF.

“It’s been a two-year process in which I’ve learned a lot about this pool of players, and overall I think it’s a very talented pool,” said Myernick, who took over the team in January 2002. “Maybe we’re not as experienced in some areas as others, but they’re still a very capable team.”

“Tournaments of this nature have proved in the past that the entire roster will be tested at one point or another, and I’m pleased that we’ll have 10 more days of training prior to our first game to continue our preparation,” added Myernick, who led the team to a 4-0-2 international record in 2003.

The U.S. U-23s will first face Panama on Tuesday, Feb. 3, followed by matches against Canada on Thursday, Feb. 5 and Honduras on Saturday, Feb. 7. All three U.S. opening round matches in Group A will be played at the 10,000-seat Estadio Tres de Marzo (in the Zapopan area of Guadalajara) and kickoff at 8 p.m. (local/CT). U.S. games can be followed by fans live via ussoccer.com's MatchTracker, presented by Philips Electronics.

The tournament opens on Feb. 2 with Group B action featuring Costa Rica, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and the host nation at Estadio Jalisco. The top two teams from each group will meet in the single-elimination semifinals on Tuesday, Feb. 10 at Estadio Jalisco, with the winner of Group A meeting the second-place team from Group B, and the winner of Group B meeting the second-place team from Group A. The two semi-final winners will earn automatic berths to Athens 2004 and meet in the final on Feb. 12.

The U.S. roster is led by current U.S. Men’s National Team stars Landon Donovan (San Jose Earthquakes), DaMarcus Beasley (Chicago Fire) and Bobby Convey (D.C. United), all of whom played in a 1-1 draw with Denmark on Jan. 18 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Donovan, who was honored with the 2003 Chevrolet Male Athlete of the Year award on Jan. 16 as the top men’s player in U.S. Soccer, scored the long goal for the U.S. on a penalty kick in the 76th minute.

The trio of experienced midfielders, along with defensive midfielder Kyle Beckerman (Colorado Rapids), all hail from the U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team that finished an impressive fourth at the FIFA U-17 World Championship at New Zealand ’99. Donovan and Beasley took the top two individual honors in that tournament, winning the Golden Ball and Silver Ball, respectively.

Donovan was a member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team that exceeded expectations and advanced to the medal round and a record fourth-place finish in Sydney. The 21-year-old San Jose Earthquakes forward, who was just 18 at the time, scored the clinching goal in the 88th minute of a 3-1 win over Kuwait that helped the U.S. not only advance to the second round for the first time in history, but win Group C with a 1-0-2 record. Earlier that year, Beasley was a part of the U.S. team that posted a 2-1-1 record and finished second at the 2000 Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Hershey, Pa., earning one of two CONCACAF berths for the Olympics.

Also featured on the travel roster are the team’s three leading scorers in 2003 in forwards David Testo (Richmond Kickers), Edson Buddle (Columbus Crew) and Alecko Eskandarian (D.C. United). Testo, who led the USA with eight points (3 g, 2 a) last year, earned A-League Rookie of the Year honors with six goals and two assists last year. Buddle, who finished 11th in MLS scoring with 10 goals and four assists, finished second on the U-23s with seven points (3 g, 1 a), including two goals in the team’s 6-0 win over St. Kitts & Nevis on Nov. 15. Eskandarian, the 2003 MLS SuperDraft #1 pick, finished third on the team with six points (2 g, 2 a).

Buddle is joined on the roster by three other players who now call Columbus, Ohio, home. Joining veteran midfielder Kyle Martino, the Crew also boast a pair of U-23 defenders and recent 2004 MLS SuperDraft picks in Chad Marshall and Chris Wingert. Marshall, who helped the U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team finish fifth at the FIFA World Youth Championship in the United Arab Emirates in December, was selected with the second overall pick in the draft behind only 14-year-old phenom Freddy Adu (D.C. United). Wingert, who was named the 2003 M.A.C./Hermann Trophy award winner on Jan. 9 as the nation’s top Division I men’s college soccer player, was picked 12th overall by the Crew after helping the St. John’s Red Storm to the NCAA championship game, where they fell 2-1 to Indiana.

Marshall’s Under-20 teammate Zak Whitbread (Liverpool – England) receives just his second call to the U-23 camp, having previously played with the team in two games of a four-game tour of England in August 2002 in which they U.S. went 4-0-0 against English First Division and English Premier League reserve clubs.

U.S. U-20 MNT leading scorer Ed Johnson (Dallas Burn) rejoins the U-23s after being sent home five days into the team’s two-week training camp at U.S. Soccer’s National Training Center in Carson, Calif., due to a viral infection closely associated with influenza (flu). Johnson scored four goals and added one assist at UAE ‘03, becoming the first U.S. player to claim Golden Boot honors in a major world championship.

Notably absent from the Olympic Qualifying roster are Belgium-based defender Oguchi Onyewu (R.A.A. Louviere) and German-based forward Conor Casey (F.C. Karlsruher), who were forced to remain in Europe with their club teams.

“Both players are significant components in the pool; unfortunately, FIFA rules and their relationship to international fixture dates prevented them from being a part of this squad.” said Myernick, who led the team to a 2-1 comeback win over C.D. Aguila of El Salvador at East L.A. College on Jan. 16 in the team’s first exhibition match of 2004. “While I believe that they can possibly help us in the future, I have all the confidence in the world in this team to get the job done.”

The U.S. Under-23 MNT began the road to the 2004 Olympics in November, when they defeated the Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts & Nevis in the second round of CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying by an aggregate score of 10-0 in a home-and-home series after receiving a bye in the first round.

U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team Roster

Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament Camp

January 22-31, 2004

Guadalajara, Mexico

Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Birthdate Hometown Club

Beasley, DaMarcus M 5’9” 135 05/24/82 Fort Wayne, Ind. Chicago Fire (MLS)

Beckerman, Kyle M 5’10” 160 04/03/82 Crofton, Md. Colorado Rapids (MLS)

Borchers, Nat D 6’2” 175 04/13/81 Pueblo, Colo. Colorado Rapids (MLS)

Buddle, Edson F 6’1” 185 05/02/81 New Rochelle, N.Y. Columbus Crew (MLS)

Burciaga, Jose Luis D 6’1” 170 11/16/81 Duncanville, Texas Kansas City Wizards (MLS)

Carroll, Brian M 5’10” 155 07/20/81 Springfield, Va. D.C. United (MLS)

Convey, Bobby M 5’9” 160 05/27/83 Philadelphia, Pa. D.C. United (MLS)

Countess, D.J. GK 6’1” 185 01/09/82 Sacramento, Calif. Dallas Burn (MLS)

Davis, Brad M 5’11” 165 11/08/81 St. Charles, Mo. Dallas Burn (MLS)

Donovan, Landon F 5’9” 155 03/04/82 Redlands, Calif. San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)

Eskandarian, Alecko F 5’9” 165 07/09/82 Montvale, N.J. D.C. United (MLS)

Gaven, Eddie M 6’0” 165 10/25/86 Hamilton, N.J. MetroStars (MLS)

Johnson, Ed M/F 6’0” 180 03/31/84 Palm Coast, Fla. Dallas Burn (MLS)

Lewis, Ricky D 6’0” 170 05/29/82 Spring, Texas Los Angeles Galaxy (MLS)

Marshall, Chad D 6’4” 190 08/22/84 Riverside, Calif. Columbus Crew (MLS)

Martino, Kyle M 5’10” 150 02/19/81 Westport, Conn. Columbus Crew (MLS)

Pause, Logan M 5’10” 160 08/22/81 Hillsborough, N.C. Chicago Fire (MLS)

Stokes, David D 6’3” 195 05/28/82 Dumfries, Va. D.C. United (MLS)

Testo, David F 5’10” 160 08/07/81 Arden, N.C. Richmond Kickers (A-League)

Warren, Doug GK 6’0” 190 03/18/81 Hoffman Estates, Ill. D.C. United (MLS)

Whitbread, Zak D 6’3” 180 01/10/84 Liverpool, England Liverpool Reserves (England)

Wingert, Chris D 5’10” 160 06/16/82 Babylon, N.Y. Columbus Crew (MLS)

[hamiltonfan]

whens the first game for canada? i couldnt find a schedule.

[beachesl]

quote:Originally posted by hamiltonfan

whens the first game for canada? i couldnt find a schedule.

from http://www.rsssf.com/tableso/ol2004q.html

Final Competition (in Guadalajara, Mexico, Feb 2-12, 2004)

-----------------

Group A (Estadio Jalisco)

-------------------------

Feb 2: Costa Rica - Jamaica

Mexico - Trinidad/Tobago

Feb 4: Costa Rica - Trinidad/Tobago

Mexico - Jamaica

Feb 6: Trinidad/Tobago - Jamaica

Mexico - Costa Rica

Group B (Estadio 3 de Marzo)

----------------------------

Feb 3: Canada - Honduras

Panama - United States

Feb 5: Honduras - Panama

Canada - United States

Feb 7: Canada - Panama

Honduras - United States

Semifinals (Estadio Jalisco)

---------------------------

Feb 10: Group A Winner - Group B Runner-up

Group B Winner - Group A Runner-up

Feb 12: Final/Third-Place Game (Estadio Jalisco)

Semifinal winners qualify for Olympics.

[Gian-Luca]

If Tam is injured for a few weeks, as was reported on the other board, that pretty well means we won't have him for qualifying (considering that we start in a few days) - though it sounded like we weren't going to get him even if he was healthy.

Negotiations for other players must still be going on, as the roster has not been announced yet, despite the tournament starting very soon (Feb.2nd overall, Feb.3rd for us)

[Ivan]

I was looking at the last roster (El Salvador series) to see what kind of lineup we would have assuming Nsaliwa, DeGuzman, Dunfield, Klukowski, Oppong and Hume will not be there.

Goal - Olivieri

Defenders - Pozniak - Braz - Arango - Marshall

Midfielders - Matondo - Thompson - Hutchinson - Simpson

Forwards - Placentino - Friend

Notes: I prefer Simpson over Canizalez, Matondo over Williams, Thompson over Masciantonio.

Assumed Placentino is healthy. Arango not on original roster, but played well at U20WC.

Just my thoughts.

[DJT]

quote:Originally posted by Ivan

Assumed Placentino is healthy.

He appears to be alright. The first report I read that gave an indication as to the nature of the problem said that it was muscular, but a report from today said that he had the flu. Either way, today's report also said that he has recovered and trained with the team this morning.

[Gian-Luca]

Which Thompson is that, Justin? He doesn't play in midfield (either at the front or back), I think Masciantonio would be there instead (especially as he is likely going to have to be the offensive creator in midfield with the others all missing.

[Desigol]

Canada should beat Honduras and Panama. But the real test would come against the Mexicans and Americans.

[Ivan]

Yeah, that was Justin. Seems to me, someone that could play in the back and up front could also play a ballwinning midfield role (I thought he played there in previous U23 games but I could be wrong). But you are correct, we are lacking a creative midfielder. I guess Harmse might also be able to play in midfield in a ball winner role similar to the last few U20 games.

I think our creativity will need to come from the wings. Not sure about Masciantonio, did not see the field against El Salvador, not even playing in fourth division in Italy as per last report we received.

[DJT]

quote:Originally posted by Ivan

Not sure about Masciantonio, did not see the field against El Salvador, not even playing in fourth division in Italy as per last report we received.

He's in the fifth division, but even there he doesn't get a heck of a lot of playing time (I don't have the details with me right now, but it's something like 300-350 minutes over the 14 games for which I found details).

[Gian-Luca]

Actually Masciantonio did see the field against El Salvador in the match where we did not have De Guzman. He came on in the 2nd half & drew the penalty that Dunfield missed.

Without De Guzman & Dunfield (both of whom missed the USVI series) he should be the guy to go to in midfield.

[loyola]

I think Olivier Occean (drafted 36th overall in the MLS draft) is an option at the forward position. He was in the U-23 pool but no sign of him with the national program since the U-23 US friendly in 2002.

Does someone knows when the roster will be release?

[beachesl]

Now that Atiba Hutchinson has signed a three year contract with Helsingborg in Sweden (see Dandal's post on other thread), he should definitely be free to play next week for the Olympic team!

[bungey]

Canada misses out on star striker for Olympic soccer qualifying event

NEIL DAVIDSON

TORONTO (CP) - Canada will be without star striker Iain Hume and midfielder Mike Klukowski at the CONCACAF men's Olympic qualifying soccer tournament next week in Mexico.

Under new FIFA rules, club sides do not have to release players for Olympic national team duty. England's Tranmere Rovers elected to hang on to Hume. The Second Division side is through to the fifth round of the FA Cup and due to play Swansea City on the weekend of Feb. 14-15. Plus the team fears losing the 20-year-old from Brampton, Ont., to injury after striker Simon Haworth suffered a broken leg earlier this month.

Belgium's La Louviere elected to keep to both Klukowski, a 22-year-old from Oshawa, Ont., and defender Oguchi Onyewu, who was wanted by the U.S. team.

There is also a question mark over the availability of Vancouver's Terry Dunfield, a midfielder with English Third Division Bury. Dunfield's release is doubtful.

While Canadian team officials would dearly like to have Hume, one of Canada's stars at the World Youth Championship in November in the United Arab Emirates, they also realise they may be calling on Tranmere in the near future to release him for Canada's World Cup team.

Canada is one of eight teams after two berths in the Athens Games for CONCACAF, the region that covers North and Central America and the Caribbean. The qualifying event runs Feb. 2-12 in Guadalajara.

The deadline for declaring 20-man rosters for the tournament is Saturday. Most of the Canadian squad will travel to Mexico on Wednesday but the Canadian lineup probably won't be officially released until Friday, so officials can continue to work the phones.

The good news for coach Bruce Twamley is that midfield star Atiba Hutchinson will be on hand to help the qualifying campaign. That's despite the fact that the 20-year-old from Toronto, named to the FIFA all-star team at the World Youth Championship, is in the process of leaving one Swedish club for another.

Agent Barry MacLean said Hutchinson is in the final steps of moving from Osters to Helsingborg, a bigger club that finished sixth in Sweden's top flight last season.

Hutchinson, who like Hume is expected to play a part in Canada's World Cup side this summer, recently had trials with Udinese in Italy and Russia's Spartak Moscow and Saturn Moscow.

Canadian team officials are still working on securing the release of midfielders Julian de Guzman of Toronto and Tam Nsaliwa of Edmonton, who are both with German teams.

De Guzman may be more of a problem. He plays in German's elite league for Hanover 96 and the Bundesliga team has a high-profile game Feb. 8 against Bayern Munich that falls in the middle of the qualifying tournament.

Canadian team officials had expected headaches in trying to free up their players for Olympic qualifying.

While Hume and Klukowski will be missed, in reality it could be worse.

Mexico is favoured to grab one of the Athens berths. Canada will be vying with the U.S. in trying to win Group A, so as to avoid a likely semifinal confrontation with the Mexicans.

The other teams in Canada's group are Honduras and Panama. Mexico is joined in Group B by Costa Rica, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The top two on each group advance to cross-over semifinals. The two finalists earn tickets to Athens.

The Canadians open Feb. 3 against Honduras.

Canada has not qualified for the Game since 1984, when the team lost to Brazil in a penalty shootout in the quarter-finals.

The Americans have had fewer problems assembling their squad, although in addition to Onyewu, the U.S. will also miss out on striker Conor Casey. His German side, Karlsruher, didn't release him.

Of the 22 currently on the U.S. roster, all but one play at home in the MLS. The exception is defender Zak Whitbread, who is part of Liverpool's youth system in England.

[beachesl]

quote:Originally posted by loyola

Does someone knows when the roster will be release?

The FIFA Olympic Qualifying Regualtions say that the list must be down to 20 players (at least two of them goalkeepers) by the date set by the tournament organizers for submission of rosters (for the two match ties the regualtions says 18 player rosters). That date is January 31, this Saturday. There are provisions for the replacement of players for proven injuries.

The USA list in the article above is the 22 -man training list, so 2 players must be cut by Saturday.

[Ivan]

Thought Masciantonio was red-carded for referee abuse while sitting on the bench?

Anyway, I hope you are right. By the looks of it, we will need him as the roster is shaping up as we expect!

[Ivan]

Thought Masciantonio was red-carded for referee abuse while sitting on the bench?

Anyway, I hope you are right. By the looks of it, we will need him as the roster is shaping up as we expect!

[Bxl Boy]

I've posted an article about the reaction of Klukowski in the french speaking forum

If someome wants to translate it...

[Gian-Luca]

Masciantonio was red-carded, but I don't know if the cards carry over from one round to the next.