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US names U23 squad

Nice to see Claudio Reyna as an assistant coach.

The only names I recognize on the squad are Bill Hamid, Freddy Adu, Juan Agudelo, Terrence Boyd and Brek Shea. The others I don't really know much about. Maybe Huffy can give us the low-down.
 
OK ... I'll try to fill in the blanks amongst the players on the list that have the best chance to be senior team contributors some day, at least based on current hype. The big thing to remember is the core of this team failed to qualify for the U20 World Cup. That was embarassing since we were outside favorites to win it at the time. Most of the players on that squad that are back are referencing that failure as motivation. That's either a great thing -- or it means during crunch time the players will be distracted. We shall see. Either way, it wont be the 2000 Olympics with a half dozen future great players playing at full tilt with nothing to lose and nothing to prove. Wow, that was a great team.

The one player that jumps out is Mix Diskerud. He's a play making midfielder. The best thing that the USA has in a guy who can take over for Donovan in a couple of years to link the defense and the offense together. He's playing regularly in Europe and has a few senior team caps. While its not a surprise he is on this team, because he has been a consistent contributor on the U18 and U20 squads over the years, there are plenty of people who thought he was a senior team player (along with Agudelo). This probably means that the senior team is going to include players during qualifying that we've never heard of (guys out of left field like Timmy Chandler) or dont ever want to hear from again (the second coming of Ricardo Clark).

Joe Gyau. Might be the next big thing. Just made his senior debut with Hoffenheim last week. We will see what he can do in the big leagues, I guess. BLAZING speed. Signed with them as a youth player. So he's been over there 5 or 6 years now, I bet. But he's tiny. 5 foot 5 inches -- maybe. He makes Freddie Adu look like Kareem Abdul Jabbar.

Teal Bunbury. He was Juan Agudelo before Juan Agudelo was anybody. Bunbury played at Akron, where Coach Caleb Porter is still head coach. Bunbury's Dad played professional soccer and the Canadian national team. His mom is American, so he chose the USMNT. He had a trial at Stoke City and impressed. I think it was Stoke, maybe Blackburn. But there were work permit issues, since he was once Canadian and became American, etc.

Even though he played for Canada in U18 and U20, he was inserted into some friendly lineups by Bob Bradley and he scored a couple of goals in quick succession, making him the next name in a long line of "next great American striker," just like Eddie Johnson, Eddie Gaven, Charlie Davies, Juan Agudelo, etc. that get over hyped and never pan out. You may have seen his goal celebration with Agudelo in the win against Chile, in which the commentators sang, "I like the Bun-burr-eee" to the tune of Boom Boom Pow by the Black Eyed Peas.

He currently "plays" for Sporting KC in a position called "Bench". He had a great rookie season and was hyped to all get out after the senior team call up. His Dad is very influential in Canadian and US soccer circles. Everyone assumed he would be in Europe in a year. One problem: he quit working. Quit training. Coach Vermes benched him, then drafted CJ Sapong, who I think if he was three years younger and got the right coaching would make us all forget about Jozy Altidore.

Bunbury had an outside shot at the senior team for qualifying. If he wants a role going forward, he had better perform well. Since he is a coach's favorite, if he doesnt perform well, the team might not either. Bunbury dislocated his elbow in a scrimmage last week with Sporting. While media reports are that he might be out two months and miss qualifying, if you believe Chad Ochocinco's twitter feed, its 2 to 4 weeks (The two remain friends after 85's trial with Sporting last year).

Jack McInerney. Drafted out of high school first overall by the Philadelphia Union, Jack is a 20 year old MLS veteran. He is heading into the last year of his contract with the Union and a lot of people expect to see the flashes of brilliance that he (and Adu for that matter) showed for the U18 teams a few years ago. He may be undersized for MLS, but could do some damage against small and younger squads in the Olympics, especially if we draw teams from Latin America or Asia.

Perry Kitchen. Another young player that is a good prospect. Played at Akron for a season. He was everywhere during the game against TU. Started as a freshman on the team that won the NCAA College Cup. Left after freshman year and turned down Anderlecht to go to the MLS. That's right. He turned down the chance at Champion's League football for the MLS. Dont let anyone tell you that MLS is filled with nobody/no skills players. He's the featured defensive player for DC United and frequently moves forward on the attack for them. He can defend and handle the ball in traffic. Something rarely seen by Americans. He was higher on the radar than overlooked Tim Ream, but he plays a similar role in DC that Ream played in NY. Now that Ream is with Bolton (we will see for how long), look for Kitchen to make the move -- especially if he impresses at the Olympics.

Kofi Sarkodie. Same tune, different verse. Former Akron player. Plays on the back line in the MLS. This time it is Houston, but only maybe a dozen games. Holds a Ghana passport and the Black Stars have hinted around about him joining them, if for no other reason than he is a member of the Ghana royal family despite being born in Ohio. But he's undersized. Makes up for it with leaping ability, speed, and his brain. He's got good soccer sense and he was an academic all-american, iirc.

It would be nice to get him cap tied to the USMNT during first round qualifying in case he develops into something special, i.e., the successor for Dolo. He scored against TU in the infamous #1 vs. #2 showdown, so that fire still burns in me against him.

Ike Opara. An enigma. A big rangy defender. Maybe the best pure athlete on the roster -- but always hurt. He could emerge as a force or never see the field. He's kind of a Marcus Dupree legend. Those that have seen him play say he is a game changer. But he is never on the field because he is always hurt.

Dilly Duka. Can play for US or Albania, I think. Played in college at Rutgers. Recruited by TU briefly, iirc. Starts for the Columbus crew in the midfield. He's a good defender, who can flip a switch and score. He emerged as a scorer and leader at the U20 World Cup. A good lockerroom guy is the hype on him.

Zarek Valentin (I wonder if his parents are trekkies). Younger brother of LA Galaxy reserves workhorse, Julian Valentin, who never truly panned out. Zarek played at guess which college? Umm What is the University of Akron? Classic defensive midfielder. High workrate. Started as a rookie at Chivas USA last year. Went to Montreal in the expansion draft or was traded, I cant remember. Decent prospect to take over the Michael Bradley "Hustle, Foul and Whine" position in the midfield in a couple of years.

I keep hearing great things about Joe Corona, but I just dont see it.

Amobi Okugo. Cool name. Never sees the field in Philly. Needs to play. Looked good in a scrimmage the other day in Orlando.

Sean Johnson. Played UCF. Better keeper than most people in MLS expected him to be. Wouldnt surprise me, if he ends up the starter. By no means is either he or Hamid the best young keepers the USA has to offer. They are just the ones that Klinsman likes and can get released by the clubs. Ipswich Town wont release Cody Cropper and there are others that are better. Hamid is the senior team #2 when Villa wont release Guzan.

Tony Taylor is a Florida guy that had a cup of coffee at USF before going overseas. He's never truly made it and bounces around a lot. Which makes you wonder about a young kid with six or seven clubs in a couple of years. Leeds brought him in and passed. I will too until I see more.

Terrance Boyd. You would think he would have a leg up as a German, but Terrance has been around awhile unlike most of the German guys. He was one of Rongen's favorites, so Im actually surprised to see him on the roster. Maybe he will play. Maybe he wont. I would start him. He is the classic big body Number 9 holding forward, who can win the ball with a defender on his back, make a blind through pass on a dime, fight through the bodies toward the pipes and poach goal after goal.

The rest of them, I dont really know anything about.
This post was edited on 2/20 9:11 AM by HuffyCane
This post was edited on 2/20 9:33 AM by HuffyCane
 
I have some friends and old colleagues that work/used to work for USMNT/MLS. So I keep up with the youngsters more than the average football fan, I guess.
 
Thanks, My son is a sports media major and is an avid soccer fan. I need to let him know about this board as he needs others who have more knowledge of USA and European soccer than I care to.
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Huffy, youare the man!! Thanks for the detail on those guys. I didn't realize so many of them played at Akron.

I personally enjoyed the Freddy Adu/Kareem Abdul-Jabbar reference. I went to KC and watched Adu with DC United back in the day. I've always rooted for Adu to live up to the hype.
 
Originally posted by Chris Harmon:
Huffy, youare the man!! Thanks for the detail on those guys. I didn't realize so many of them played at Akron.

I personally enjoyed the Freddy Adu/Kareem Abdul-Jabbar reference. I went to KC and watched Adu with DC United back in the day. I've always rooted for Adu to live up to the hype.
What year was that game Chris....I might have been there myself...

Go TU!!!
 
Originally posted by Tu Geo:

Originally posted by Chris Harmon:
Huffy, youare the man!! Thanks for the detail on those guys. I didn't realize so many of them played at Akron.

I personally enjoyed the Freddy Adu/Kareem Abdul-Jabbar reference. I went to KC and watched Adu with DC United back in the day. I've always rooted for Adu to live up to the hype.
What year was that game Chris....I might have been there myself...

Go TU!!!
It was at Arrowhead. Not sure on the exact year. Adu played for United from 2004 to 2006. If I had to guess, I'd say 2004.
 
Originally posted by Chris Harmon:

Originally posted by Tu Geo:


Originally posted by Chris Harmon:
Huffy, youare the man!! Thanks for the detail on those guys. I didn't realize so many of them played at Akron.

I personally enjoyed the Freddy Adu/Kareem Abdul-Jabbar reference. I went to KC and watched Adu with DC United back in the day. I've always rooted for Adu to live up to the hype.
What year was that game Chris....I might have been there myself...

Go TU!!!
It was at Arrowhead. Not sure on the exact year. Adu played for United from 2004 to 2006. If I had to guess, I'd say 2004.
I think it was the summer of 2004 and it was definitely at Arrowhead.......my oldest son was a freshman in HS and was stoked to get to see Freddy....he later played a year at UMKC in 2008 where they practiced alot with KC team...think they still had Johnson at that time....we had a lot of fun on that trip....

Go TU!!!
This post was edited on 2/27 11:00 AM by Tu Geo
 
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