U.S. Will Face Three Club Teams During 12-Day Tour of Netherlands;
Roster Consists Mainly of College Players as Professionals Begin MLS Season
CHICAGO (April 8, 2005) – U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team head coach Sigi Schmid has named a 19-man roster for a three-match tour of the Netherlands that will kickoff tomorrow when the team travels to Delden, Holland, which will be their home base for the first part of the trip.
This will be the third camp for the U.S. Under-20s as they continue to prepare for the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship from June 10-July 2 in Holland. The U.S. has already held a domestic camp in February and participated in an international tournament in South Korea in March after qualifying for the World Championship this past January by winning Group A of the CONCACAF Under-20 Qualifying Tournament at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.
The U.S. will have two days of practice in Delden before traveling to Rotterdam to take on Feyenoord’s reserve team on April 12. Two days later, the U.S. will get their first look at the city of Enschede, their location for all three of their games in Group D of the World Championship, as they travel there to face FC Twente’s reserves on a training field (not at the stadium). The U.S. will move camp to Mierlo on April 15 and conduct a few more days of training before playing their final match of the tour against Borussia Monchengladbach’s reserve team on April 19 in Maasbree.
Schmid has called up just 11 players from the 18-man roster that he used during qualifying, as the majority of the professionals will not make the trip due to club commitments with Major League Soccer, which kicked off its 10th season last weekend. Of the nine professional players on the qualifying roster, only defender Tim Ward (MetroStars), midfielder Arturo Alvarez (FC Dallas) and goalkeeper Quentin Westberg (ESTAC Troyes) were brought in for the tour.
“We are missing a number of professional players, but this gives us the opportunity to evaluate other players we haven’t seen as often play against some tough competition,” said Schmid. “This will also provide our players with the chance to get an idea of what our surroundings will be like when we are in Holland this summer for the World Championship.”
Without the professionals, Schmid will rely on his core of college players that have been the backbone for the U-20s. Eight of the 10 college players on the roster were part of the qualifying tournament, with only Notre Dame midfielder Greg Dalby unable to make the trip.
Defenders Nathan Sturgis (Clemson), Sean Franklin (CSU-Northridge) and forward Brad Evans (UC-Irvine) have been called back after all four made an impact during the Suwon International Youth Football Tournament in Suwon, South Korea, last month. The trio helped the U.S. upset Argentina 2-1 and defeat Egypt 1-0 to finish in second place behind the host.
Schmid also called in five players - Michael Harrington, Robbie Rogers, Justin Hughes, Jeff Harwell and Lee Nguyen – who were all part of the team’s first camp after qualifying in February at The Home Depot Center.
Since taking over as head coach of the Under-20s in late October, Schmid has compiled a 9-1-0 record in international matches. Over the past two years, the Under-20s have amassed an 11-5-4 international record (19-9-8 overall).
The U.S. will face Argentina, Germany and Egypt in Group D of the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship. The U.S. opens against Argentina on June 11 at 5:30 p.m. local time/ 11:30 a.m. ET, then faces Germany on June 14 (8:30 p.m. local time/ 2:30 p.m. ET) and concludes group play on June 18 (1:30 p.m. local time/ 7:30 a.m. ET) against Egypt. The U.S. will play all three of their first round games at Enschede Stadium in Enschede, Holland. Every U.S. match at the World Youth Championship can be followed live via ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker, presented by Phillips Electronics.
U.S. Under-20 Roster
Holland Tour
April 9-20
Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Birthdate Hometown Club / College
Alvarez, Arturo M 5’9 170 06/28/85 Houston, Texas FC Dallas
Davies, Charlie F 5’10 160 06/25/86 Manchester, N.H. Boston College
Evans, Brad F/M 6’1 170 04/20/85 Phoenix, Ariz. UC - Irvine
Feilhaber, Benny M 5’9 150 01/19/85 Irvine, Calif. UCLA
Franklin, Sean D 5’11 150 03/21/85 Palmdale, Calif. CSU – Northridge
Harrington, Michael F 6’0 170 01/24/86 Greenville, N.C. University of North Carolina
Harwell, Jeff M 5’7 135 09/07/86 Dallas, Texas Dallas Texans
Hughes, Justin GK 6’0 165 04/23/85 Wake Forest, N.C. University of North Carolina
Ianni, Patrick M 6’1 175 06/15/85 Lodi, Calif. UCLA
Kartunen, Andrew GK 6’1 175 02/07/85 San Juan Capistrano, Calif. Stanford University
Kljestan, Sacha M 6’1 150 09/09/85 Huntington Beach, Calif. Seton Hall University
Nguyen, Lee M 5’8 150 10/07/86 Richardson, Texas Dallas Texans
Peterson, Jacob F 5’10 160 01/27/86 Portage, Mich. Indiana University
Phelan, Patrick D 6’1 175 01/16/85 Enfield, Conn. Wake Forest University
Rogers, Robbie F 5’9 135 05/12/87 Palos Verdes, Calif. (no club)
Sturgis, Nathan D 5’10” 150 07/06/87 St. Augustine, Fla. Clemson University
Ward, Tim D 6’0 160 02/28/87 Waukesha, Wis. Metrostars
Westberg, Quentin GK 6’1 180 04/25/86 Paris, France ESTAC Troyes (FRANCE)
Wynne, Marvell D 5’10 170 05/08/86 Poway, Calif. UCLA
- ussoccer.com -
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