McCarty and Alvarez Called to Final Olympic Qualifying Camp
February 27th, 2008 . 8:34 am . By: Buzz CarrickFC Dallas midfielders Dax McCarty and Arturo Alvarez have been called into camp for the US U-23 team for the last training session prior to Olympic Qualifying. The players will gather in Bradenton on March 1st to the 9th for training. A final qualifying roster of 20 players will be named on the 9th before the team travels to Tampa, the location of the first-round games in the qualifying tournament for Group A. FCD head coach Steve Morrow knows the call ups come at a time he wants his players in camp, but says the experience is well worth the annoyance. “I think it’s great for their development, I really do,” Morrow said on Tuesday. “It will help them mature as players. If they are able to get through the qualifiers and get to the Olympics it’s a great opportunity. It’s a wonderful opportunity that I certainly encourage.” The final 20-player roster may include players not in the Bradenton training camp, and will be announced prior to the team’s arrival in Tampa on March 9, two days before the U.S. opens the qualifying tournament against Cuba on March 11 at Raymond James Stadium. The U.S. will then face Panama on March 13 at 7 p.m. CT and Honduras on March 13 at 6 p.m. CT. “We are very excited to begin the final phase of preparations before the qualifying tournament begins,” said Nowak. “The work over the past couple months has been very good. We have confidence in the ability of our group, and we will now spend the next 11 days putting the finishing touches on the roster so we can select the best players to help us achieve the goal of qualifying for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.” Group B features Canada, Guatemala, Haiti and Mexico facing off on March 12, 14 and 16 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. LP Field in Nashville will host the semifinals on Thursday, March 20, and the championship match and third-place game on Sunday, March 23. The tournament will send its two finalists to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. ESPN Deportes will broadcast all 16 matches of the tournament as the exclusive Spanish-language rights holders. In addition, ESPN360.com will also show all 16 games live online, and will have a replay of each game available on demand for 48-hours following its completion. English-language broadcast information will be announced later this week. Roster by PositionGOALKEEPERS (3): Dominic Cervi (Chicago Fire), Tally Hall (Esbjerg fB), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake) DEFENDERS (8): 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 (8): 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 (5): Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), Jozy Altidore (New York Red Bulls), Chad Barrett (Chicago Fire), Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake) 5 Comments Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI Leave a comment |
No ESPN/ESPN2 coverage for any of the games?
Any thoughts on who won’t make the final 20-man roster? keep in mind both lil’ Bradley and Spector aren’t on the 24-man list but will likely make the roster anyway. So which 6 do you see being cut?
Only 18 will dress per game so unless Nowak wants to keep both Spector and Bradley on the roster and not bring them in during the group stage, I’d expect us to keep all 3 keepers.
Ives is also has Artie as a starter in his XI but not Dax. Bradley and Dax do play a similar position as well, but slightly different styles.
Alvarez I too have a starter. Dax has been a big player for them, but Bradley could indeed take his spot, as could Benny. Given the feedback I’ve heard second hand I think Dax will still make the bench and may see some PT.
I have:
GK:Seitz, Hall, Cervi
D:Spector, Freeman, Ianni, Orozco, Wynne, Edu, Hill
M:Bradley, Benny, Arturo, Zizzo, Dax, Sturgis
F:Adu, Jozy, Davies, Findley
Notice that they have Maurice Edu listed as a defender. There is also no guarantee that Braley will be released from Herenveen cuz he’s a starter there, so that may open up a spot.
Edu and Adu can both play in midfield, so that gives depth. If Bradley doesnt come then that gives Dax and Kjelston an advantage.
Bradley won’t be coming for qualifying games, but will for Olympics if we qualify.