Myernick Names 18-Player U.S Under-23 MNT Roster for Two-Week European Trip to Portugal and Italy
CHICAGO (Thursday, January 31, 2002) - U.S. Men's National Team assistant coach Glenn "Mooch" Myernick announced an 18-player roster today for the U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team's two-week trip to Portugal and Italy from Feb. 1-14, 2002, which he will oversee.
Jan. 31, 2002
CHICAGO (Thursday, January 31, 2002) - U.S. Men's National Team assistant coach Glenn "Mooch" Myernick announced an 18-player roster today for the U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team's two-week trip to Portugal and Italy from Feb. 1-14, 2002, which he will oversee.
The team departs tomorrow (Feb. 1) for Portugal, where they will compete in the Madeira International Tournament next week with a trio of games in Madeira Island. The U-23s will open with a match against a regional select team from Madeira on Feb. 5 in Machico, followed by international matches versus the Under-21 Men's National Teams of Slovakia (Feb. 6 in Choupana) and Portugal (Feb. 8 in Funchal).
The team will then travel to the island of Sicily, where they will meet the Italy Under-21 MNT in a friendly in Messina on Feb. 12, just one day before the full U.S. Men's National Team takes on the full Italian MNT in an important pre-World Cup test. Both of those matches can be followed live on ussoccer.com's MatchTracker, presented by Philips Electronics.
The trip marks just the second time that a group of players has gathered together as the Under-23 MNT since the last group of players finished an all-time best fourth place in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and subsequently graduated from the age group. The 18 players on this roster were selected from a pool of 25 players that met from Jan. 5-12 for an initial week-long training camp at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif.
"We've got a talented young bunch together for this trip," said Myernick, who recently joined the U.S. MNT staff in preparation for the 2002 World Cup. "We're looking forward to a good showing in what will be a great measuring stick for this group of players against some stellar opponents."
Essentially an Under-21 team and with the 2004 Olympics more than two years away, the roster features a host of players who were part of the U.S. Under-20 MNT that qualified for the FIFA World Youth Championship and advanced to the second round in 2001, including midfielders DaMarcus Beasley (Chicago Fire) and Bobby Convey (D.C. United). Beasley and Convey, who also starred on the U.S. Under-17 MNT together, will join the team on Feb. 4 after spending January with the full U.S. MNT as they prepared for and are currently competing in the FC Gold Cup 2002 in Pasadena, Calif.
Along with Beasley and Convey, the roster also boasts future MLS stars and current Nike Project-40 members like goalkeeper D.J. Countess, forward Devin Barclay (San Jose Earthquakes), midfielder Kyle Beckerman (Colorado Rapids) and defender Jose Burciaga (Kansas City Wizards). Midfielders Brad Davis (Saint Louis), Kelly Gray (Portland) and Kyle Martino (Virginia) recently signed with the Pro-40 program and will likely be selected in the 2002 SuperDraft on Feb. 10, making it nine players on the 18-player roster that are affiliated with Major League Soccer.
U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team Roster | |||||||
No. | Name | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Birthdate | Hometown | College/Club |
| 4 | Akwari, Nelson | D | 5'11" | 180 | 02/04/82 | Houston, Texas | UCLA |
| 12 | Barclay, Devin | F | 5'9" | 165 | 04/19/83 | Annapolis, Md. | San Jose Earthquakes (MLS) |
| 7 | Beasley, DaMarcus | M | 5'8" | 150 | 05/24/82 | Fort Wayne, Ind. | Chicago Fire (MLS) |
| 19 | Beckerman, Kyle | M | 5'11" | 155 | 04/23/82 | Crofton, Md. | Colorado Rapids (MLS) |
| 17 | Burciaga, Jose | D | 6'1" | 160 | 11/16/81 | Arlington, Texas | Kansas City Wizards (MLS) |
| 16 | Carroll, Brian | M | 5'10" | 150 | 07/20/81 | Springfield, Va. | Wake Forest University |
| 11 | Convey, Bobby | M | 5'8" | 150 | 05/27/83 | Philadelphia, Pa. | D.C. United (MLS) |
| 1 | Countess, D.J. | GK | 6'2" | 195 | 01/09/82 | Sacramento, Calif. | MetroStars (MLS) |
| 9 | Davis, Brad | M | 5'11" | 165 | 11/08/81 | St. Louis, Mo. | Saint Louis University |
| 8 | Eskandarian, Alecko | F | 5'9" | 160 | 07/09/82 | Montvale, N.J. | University of Virginia |
| 6 | Gray, Kelly | F | 6'3" | 170 | 04/07/81 | San Jose, Calif. | University of Portland |
| 14 | Jaqua, Nate | F | 6'3" | 185 | 10/28/81 | Eugene, Ore. | University of Portland |
| 13 | Martino, Kyle | M | 5'10" | 150 | 02/19/81 | Westport, Conn. | University of Virginia |
| 2 | Salyer, Philip | D | 5'10" | 155 | 10/30/81 | Trophy Club, Texas | SV Werder Bremen (Germany) |
| 3 | Stokes, David | D | 6'3" | 185 | 05/28/82 | Dumfries, Va. | University of North Carolina |
| 18 | Warren, Doug | GK | 6'0" | 185 | 03/18/81 | Hoffman Estates, Ill. | Clemson University |
| 20 | Wingert, Chris | D | 5'10" | 160 | 06/16/82 | Babylon, N.Y. | St. John’s University |
| 5 | Yi, Alex | D | 6'3" | 180 | 02/27/82 | Easton, Md. | UCLA |
Team Staff | |
| Head Coach | Glenn Myernick |
| Assistant Coach | Dan Donigan |
| Goalkeeper Coach | Peter Mellor |
| Team Coordinator | Erik Liekoski |
| Doctor | Jim Hashimoto |
| Team Coordinator | Ivan Pierra |
| Team Doctor | Dr. Dan Romanelli |
| Trainer | Scott Piehl |
| Equipment Manager | Rob Stelzer |
| Press Officer | Bryan Chenault |
