U.S. Under-23s to Battle Armenia as Part of USA-Iran Doubleheader on January 16 at Rose Bowl in Pasadena
CHICAGO (Wednesday, December 15, 1999) - U.S. Soccer announced today that the U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team will battle the full Armenian National Team as part of a U.S. Soccer doubleheader on Jan. 16 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. The match kicks off at 4:30 p.m. PT, immediately
Dec. 15, 1999
More than 30,000 tickets have already been sold for the doubleheader, which has sold out its top two classes ($50 and $35) of tickets offered. Remaining tickets, which are priced as low as $20, are available by calling the Los Angeles Galaxy at 877-3GALAXY or TicketMaster at 213-480-3232.
The Jan. 16 doubleheader acts as the first domestic international match of the 2000 season for both teams. It also marks only the second time a team from the United States has faced Armenia in international competition, with the previous contest being a 1-0 win by the U.S. Men's National Team in a pre-World Cup '94 match on May 15 in Fullerton, Calif.
The U.S. Under-23 National Team, coming off a 4-4-2 record in 1999 highlighted by a 2-0 win over the German U-23 squad on Feb. 8, kick off their year-long "Road to Sydney" with a training camp at the ARCO Olympic Training Center in San Diego, Calif. From Jan. 5-20.
For the first time in the program's 23-year history, the team representing the U.S. in international competition, in this case the Confederation Olympic Qualifying and the 2000 Olympics, is made up predominantly of experienced professionals, rather than college players and recent graduates.
The U.S. U-23 squad is full of bright young stars, including D.C. United midfielder Ben Olsen, who was recently named MVP of MLS Cup '99; fellow United teammate and forward Chris Albright, who is currently rehabilitating a knee injury but should compete for a starting spot; midfielder John O'Brien, who is currently playing for the prestigious Ajax Amsterdam of Holland; Chicago Fire forward Josh Wolff, who scored 18 goals and 5 assists in two season with the club before being injured late in the 1999 season; and defenders Chad McCarty (Tampa Bay Mutiny), Joey DiGimarino (Colorado Rapids), and Brian Dunseth (New England Revolution), who have all contributed significantly to their MLS clubs. After the Jan. 16 match, the Americans will travel to Portugal for a foreign tour of three games from Jan. 21-30 and then spend Feb. 6-11 training in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., in which they will play three matches in six days, including a rare match against the full U.S. Men's National Team and two games against MLS clubs who will be in the area for MLS 2000 Spring Training.
Looming on the horizon is the Football Confederation's Under-23 Men's Final Olympic Qualifying tournament, which will be played April 21-30 at a site to be announced later this week. The qualifying competition is currently entering its second stage of qualifying, with 12 teams making up three groups. The United States, as part of Group A, receives a bye into the final round of qualification as the host federation. The U.S. needs to finish as one of the top two teams in what will be a six-team final qualifying tournament in order to advance to the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
U.S. SOCCER CONTINUES PREPARATIONS FOR IRAN'S HISTORIC VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES: In preparation for their visit to the U.S., the Iran Football Federation announced on Sunday their 33-player roster for their preliminary training camp prior to the team's trip to the United States. Contrary to a number of reports that have been circulating worldwide, the Iran National Team will be arriving in the United States in early January. The players on the full roster are as follows: Hadi Tabatabei, Davoud Fanaee, Parviz Boromand, Abbas Mohammadi, Javad Zarincheh, Mehdi Hasheminasab, Satar Hamedani, Behrouz Rahbarifar, Alireza Emamifar, Mahmoud Fekri, Majid Basirat, Hadi Mahdavikia, Abdullah Vaysee, Davoud Dehghani, Latif Janami, Ismaeel Halali, Javad Nikoonam, Davoud Rostami, Seo Shahbazian, Mohammad Navazi, Hamid Kavianpoor, Hamid Esteeli, Sohrab Bakhtiyarizadeh, Behnam Abolghasempour, Layss Nasiri, Ali Daei, Mehdi Mahdavikia, Sirous Deanmohammadi, Karim Bagheri, Khodadad Azizi, Ali Mousavi, Mohammad Khakpour, and Mehrdad Minavand.
| Date | Opponent | Location | Kickoff / TV | Tickets |
| Jan. 16 | Iran | The Rose Bowl (Pasadena, Calif.) | 2:00 p.m. (PT) / ESPN | TicketMaster (213/480-3232) Los Angeles Galaxy (877/3GALAXY) |
| U-23s vs. Armenia | The Rose Bowl (Pasadena, Calif.) | 4:30 p.m. (PT) / - | ||
| Jan. 29 | Chile | (Coquimbo, Chile) | - / - | -- |
| Feb. 12 | United States vs. Haiti | The Orange Bowl (Miami, Fla.) | 7:00 p.m. (ET) / - | Gold Cup 2000 Ticket Information |
| Colombia vs. Jamaica | The Orange Bowl (Miami, Fla.) | 9:00 p.m. (ET) / - | Gold Cup 2000 Ticket Information | |
| Feb. 16 | Honduras vs. Colombia | The Orange Bowl (Miami, Fla.) | 7:00 p.m. (ET) / - | Gold Cup 2000 Ticket Information |
| Peru vs. United States | The Orange Bowl (Miami, Fla.) | 9:00 p.m. (ET) / - | Gold Cup 2000 Ticket Information | |
| 2000 U.S. Under-23 National Team | ||||||
| ARCO Olympic Training Center * January 5-20, 2000 | ||||||
| Pos. | Name | D.O.B. | Ht. | Wt. | Hometown | Last Club/School |
| GK | Brown, Adin | 05/27/78 | 6'4" | 200 | Pleasant Hill, CA | College of William & Mary |
| GK | Howard, Tim | 03/06/79 | 6'1" | 195 | N. Brunswick, NJ | NY/NJ Metrostars - MLS |
| GK | Kirk, Andy | 10/03/77 | 6'0" | 177 | Milwaukee, WI | Tampa Bay Mutiny - MLS |
| GK | Napolean, Matt | 08/18/77 | 6'0" | 175 | Feasterville, PA | Columbus Crew - MLS |
| D | Califf, Dan | 03/17/80 | 6'1" | 185 | Orange, CA | University of Maryland |
| D | Cherundolo, Steve | 02/19/79 | 5'6" | 145 | San Diego, CA | Hannover '96 - Germany |
| D | Chulis, Matt | 08/29/77 | 5'10" | 155 | Central Islip, NY | Columbus Crew - MLS |
| D | Corrales, Ramiro | 03/29/77 | 6'1" | 170 | Salinas, CA | NY/NJ Metrostars - MLS |
| D | DiGimarino, Joey | 04/06/77 | 5'10" | 160 | Corona, CA | Colorado Rapids - MLS |
| D | Dunseth, Brian | 03/02/77 | 6'0" | 170 | Upland, CA | New England Revolution - MLS |
| D | McCarty, Chad | 10/05/77 | 5'11" | 175 | Clovis, CA | Tampa Bay Mutiny - MLS |
| D | Shak, Steve | 02/08/78 | 6'1" | 175 | Cerritos, CA | UCLA |
| D | Whitfield, Evan | 06/23/77 | 5'11" | 160 | Glendale, AZ | Chicago Fire - MLS |
| M | Beasley, DaMarcus | 05/24/82 | 5'7" | 130 | Fort Wayne, IN | Los Angeles Galaxy - MLS |
| M | Hart, Wes | -- | -- | -- | -- | University of Washington |
| M | Moore, Jason | 04/04/78 | 5'10" | 155 | Lawrenceville, GA | DC United - MLS |
| M | O'Brien, John | 08/29/77 | 5'8" | 145 | Playa del Rey, CA | Ajax Amsterdam - Holland |
| M | Olsen, Ben | 05/03/77 | 5'8" | 140 | Harrisburg, PA | DC United - MLS |
| M | Otero, Antonio | 05/20/77 | 5'11" | 165 | Tampa, FL | DC United - MLS |
| M | Parra, Carlos | 02/03/77 | 6'1" | 175 | West Haven, CT | New England Revolution - MLS |
| M | Vagenas, Peter | 02/06/78 | 5'8" | 160 | Pasadena, CA | UCLA |
| M | Victorine, Sasha | 02/02/78 | 6'2" | 180 | Carmichael, CA | UCLA |
| M | Winters, Brian | 12/31/77 | 5'10" | 172 | Tacoma, WA | University of Portland |
| F | Albright, Chris | 01/14/79 | 6'1" | 185 | Philadelphia, PA | DC United - MLS |
| F | Bower, Scott | 06/27/78 | 5'10" | 165 | Tampa, FL | San Jose Earthquakes - MLS |
| F | Brown, Chris | 03/10/77 | 5'11" | 165 | Portland, OR | Kansas City Wizards -MLS |
| F | Casey, Conor | 07/25/81 | 6'1" | 170 | Gilpin, CO | University of Portland |
| F | Donovan, Landon | 03/04/82 | 5'8" | 140 | Redlands, CA | Bayer Leverkusen - Germany |
| F | Thorrington, John | 10/17/79 | 5'8" | 150 | Palos Verde, CA | Bayer Leverkusen - Germany |
| F | West, Brian | 06/10/78 | 5'11" | 160 | Laurel, MD | Columbus Crew - MLS |
| F | Wolff, Josh | 02/25/77 | 5'10" | 160 | Stone Mt., GA | Chicago Fire - MLS |
