U.S. U-23s Schedule Set for CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying in Mexico in February 2004

CHICAGO (Thursday, December 4, 2003) -- The U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team learned its schedule for the final round of CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying, which will take place from February 2-12, 2004, in Guadalajara, Mexico.

CHICAGO (Thursday, December 4, 2003) -- The U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team learned its schedule for the final round of CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying, which will take place from February 2-12, 2004, in Guadalajara, Mexico.

The USA will play all three Group A matches at Estadio Tres de Marzo, facing Panama first on Tuesday, Feb. 3, followed by matches against Canada on Thursday, Feb. 5 and Honduras on Sunday, Feb. 7. Kickoff times have yet to be determined for any of the final round matches, but all U.S. games can be followed by fans live via ussoccer.com's MatchTracker, presented by Philips Electronics.

The tournament opens on Monday, Feb. 2 with Group B action featuring Costa Rica, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and the host nation at Estadio Jalisco.

The top two teams from each group will meet in the single-elimination semifinals on Tuesday, Feb. 10 at Estadio Jalisco, with the winner of Group A meeting the second-place team from Group B, and the winner of Group B meeting the second-place team from Group A. The two semi-final winners will earn automatic berths to Athens 2004 and meet in the final on Thursday, Feb. 12, also at Estadio Jalisco.

The USA advanced to the final round of CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying by defeating the Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts & Nevis by a 10-0 aggregate score in a two-game series on November 15 (6-0) and 19 (4-0).

The U.S. finished second at the final round of the 2000 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying on home soil at HersheyPark Stadium in Hershey, Pa.. After taking the top spot in its three-team group with a 3-0 win over Honduras and a 0-0 draw with Canada, the U.S. met Guatemala in the semifinals and won handily, 4-0, to advance to the 2000 Olympics.

Although they fell 2-1 to Honduras in the tournament final, they received one of the two automatic CONCACAF berths to the Sydney Games, where the USA advanced to the medal round and went on to finish an all-time best fourth place behind the play of current U.S. Men's National Team stars like Josh Wolff, John O'Brien and Landon Donovan.

GROUP A
(All matches at Estadio Tres de Marzo)
Date        Match-up                         Kickoff (local)
Feb. 3     Canada vs. Honduras        TBD
               Panama vs. USA               TBD
Feb. 5     Honduras vs. Panama        TBD
               Canada vs. USA               TBD
Feb. 7     Canada vs. Panama           TBD
               Honduras vs. USA            TBD

GROUP B
(All matches at Estadio Jalisco)
Date        Match-up                          Kickoff (local)
Feb. 2     Costa Rica vs. Jamaica      TBD
               T&T vs. Mexico                TBD
Feb. 4     Costa Rica vs. T&T           TBD
               Jamaica vs. Mexico            TBD
Feb. 6     T&T vs. Jamaica                TBD
               Costa Rica vs. Mexico       TBD

SINGLE ELIMINATION
(All matches at Estadio Jalisco)
Semifinals
Date        Match-up                          Kickoff (local)          
Feb. 10   Semi #1 (A1 vs. B2)          TBD
               Semi #2 (A2 vs. B1)          TBD
Final / Third Place
Date        Match-up                          Kickoff (local)
Feb. 12   Semi Losers                       TBD
               Semi Winners                     TBD