Convey, Quaranta, Mapp called to U-20 qualifiers

[Atouk]

http://www.ussoccer.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=23339&itype=

DC United's three young Americans were called to the Stars-and-Stripes' U-20 club that will attempt to qualify for the World Youth Championship in games November 13, 15, and 17, down in Charleston, SC. We provided three of the six MLS players on the squad (two other MLS players are alternates).

They'll play Haiti, Canada, and El Salvador, in league play, with the top two teams qualifying. Panama and Mexico qualified out of the other CONCACAF group.

Mark

[Sachin]

It's a shame the U-20s aren't in Germantown. We could have had our U-20s take on the El Salvador U-20s before the senior sides play in RFK on the 17th.

Sachin

[Jose L. Couso]

That is good news.

Maybe I will go down there and catch a few games.

[Th4119]

Originally posted by Sachin
It's a shame the U-20s aren't in Germantown. We could have had our U-20s take on the El Salvador U-20s before the senior sides play in RFK on the 17th.

Sachin

What Sachin said!

[Lowecifer]

Where are the Digital one and Sandon.

Who is the biggest challenge to the team? I'm guessing Canada, as they've been developing some good young players of late.

[DigitalTron]

This was very much expected, but still is good news. Rongen plans to use Convey as his central attacking midfielder, so it's Convey's team. Santino will partner Johnson up top, and those two have skill and chemistry, in addition to being best friends. Mapp should benefit with having more familiarity with Convey and Santino, as well as an adjustment to the professional speed of thought.

The US team, unlike DC United, can finish, so you should see some good assist totals from Convey. I'm certain that most of the defensive attention will be on Johnson rather than Santino, so it should be a good opportunity for Santino to start ripping the back of the net.

Kudos to all three. If any of the games are televised, you should tape them. Tons of people want to see these games but cannot.

-Tron

[Cweedchop]

Originally posted by DigitalTron

Kudos to all three. If any of the games are televised, you should tape them. Tons of people want to see these games but cannot.

-Tron

I'm taping all the games off of my satellite dish..

I can lend them out on a limited basis.. I only have one VCR so I am not able to duplicate the tapes in any way but anyone with mulitiple VCR's will be able to do it...

[Cweedchop]

Originally posted by DigitalTron
.

The US team, unlike DC United, can finish, so you should see some good assist totals from Convey. I'm certain that most of the defensive attention will be on Johnson rather than Santino, so it should be a good opportunity for Santino to start ripping the back of the net.



I'm jazzed for this tournament as well but thinking like this is dangerous.. We can't just assume we will breeze through this thing..

I know our squad is full of pro players and rightfully so we should do well, but in soccer, anything can happen to tilt the scales..

You only have to look at the Revolution and their run to the Cup to see what I speak of.. I am thoroughly convinced that they are still a crap team that plays a crap style of soccer that practically lulled the Crew and Fire into sleep and got lucky by scoring first and holding on for dear life..

There is no reason to not expect Haiti, Canada and El Salvador to play bunker ball and thoroughly frustrate the more talented Americans...

Again, we SHOULD walk through qualifying but I've got a feeling that perhaps a few suprises might spring up at us before it's all over...

[DigitalTron]

On a scouting note, this US team is built around a lot of the big talent of the last U-17 team on which Johnson, Santino and Mapp played. The one team that gave them trouble was Candada. As Cweedchop pointed out, this is by no means guaranteed, but if we do qualify it will most likely be on the backs of the United players creating scoring chances.

-Tron

[Diceson]

If I understand correctly, Q2 will represent ElSal in the qualifiers also. Although the US and Canada are expected to be the two teams that go through to the Championship in the United Arab Emirates next year, El Sal managed to win 3 out of 4 games to get to the qualifiers.

This brings up an interesting point. If the US and ElSal go through, assuming a similar MLS start date for 2003 as with this season, DCUnited will possibly miss the services of these four players for the first four games of next season! The championship is scheduled from March 25th through April 16th.

[DigitalTron]

Speaking of Eliseo, any word--official or unnofficial--about whether United is picking up the option to sign him? My understanding was that Eliseo came on a loan with the option to sign him permanently. My impression was that United was definitely impressed with him and was going to sign him, but I never really heard any word after that, fact or rumor.

Thanks Diceson,

-Tron

[ursula]

My guess about Q2 and his contract is that the club is taking it's time to get an idea of what's out there- assessing it's options, before committing to Q2 or Etch or Moreno or anyone. After Hudson and Kaspar and Trask get their game plan then we'll start seeing trades, signings, waivings, picking up options, etc. I doubt that there will much to report on about any players until the end of the year.


John- your U-20 timeline- UGH! Can't our team get a break? The one hope is that since next year's schedule isn't set yet, the MLS poo-bahs will plan around the world championships.

[Cweedchop]

Originally posted by ursula

John- your U-20 timeline- UGH! Can't our team get a break? The one hope is that since next year's schedule isn't set yet, the MLS poo-bahs will plan around the world championships.

Since MLS is already planning on relaxing the schedule for both the Confederations Cup and the Gold Cup, I don't think it's safe to assume that the U-20 World Cup would be considered..

Additionally, I've heard rumours thru the grapevine that MLS is seriously considering expanding rosters to 24 players, which would help out immensly....

[DigitalTron]

Originally posted by Cweedchop
Additionally, I've heard rumours thru the grapevine that MLS is seriously considering expanding rosters to 24 players, which would help out immensly.... Wow, that would take a lot of playing time away from the younger players. From DC United's standpoint though, it woudl help, because we have a lot of players that play midfield and not enough up top or in the back. One on each side would be great.

Any word on whether that would be 2 more developmental/P-40 players or 2 more full roster spots?

-Tron

[Footer Phooter]

Originally posted by Jose L. Couso
That is good news.

Maybe I will go down there and catch a few games.

Hey, I met you at Summers Friday night.

Anyway, just to let you know, Charleston is a great city to visit. The old slave quarters have a artisan market during the weekends, there's lots of historical sites, and if you want to get to the Ocean, Folly Beack is about 20 minutes out of town. I don't have that much on the city, but PM me if you want more info.

[Footer Phooter]

Originally posted by Cweedchop


Since MLS is already planning on relaxing the schedule for both the Confederations Cup and the Gold Cup, I don't think it's safe to assume that the U-20 World Cup would be considered..

Additionally, I've heard rumours thru the grapevine that MLS is seriously considering expanding rosters to 24 players, which would help out immensly....

Two posts in a row, terrific. I assume Convey is young enough for the u-20's? Quaranta is a given.