http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_281687.html "Bradley to Convene First Training Camp for U-23 MNT in Carson, Calif." "- 20 Players Will Train at The Home Depot Center Before Heading on Two-Match Tour in Japan" Wow the ink is barely dry on our (alleged) cooperative agreement with Arsenal and we already have a youth movement. ;>) More seriously the core of the U-23 team will also be our Olympic squad with the addition of three (iirc) older players so this really could lead to some great exposure and experience. For me this camp for the friendlies in Japan went under the radar with the win over Mexico and other shall we say distractions.
Let's not forget recent draftee Nico Colaluca. Good for him! Since he's Generation Adidas he's already signed with the league and will be playing for the Rapids this season.
Thanks, sorry to leave him out and glad to see he is thought of that highly. I guess I should have looked at the Club/College list instead of the name one. ;>) Looking at the heights and weights there I see that Nico is only one inch shorter and 10 pounds lighter than Jacob, and Peterson has shown he is big enough to play in MLS. 15% of the U-23 Nats are from the Rapids. Post to this thread if you have any information about television or streaming coverage of the 2 matches in Japan?
He's replacing Tally Hall who is going to his new Scandinavian club before the trip to Japan. Hughes was a high school All-American and had a strong career at UNC. His performance at the combine really hurt him. It is so hard to tell how keepers are going to end up in MLS, so it'll be a long time before we call him a steal, but the risk of drafting him was certainly balanced by his potential upside.
I think that it's great that we have a keeper, defender, midfielder, and forward in camp. It never hurts a player development to be brought into these camps. Also could be a jump start the season for some of these guys.
Hard for me to believe that Freeman is in consideration for the team. His service is dreadful on all accounts.
He was a pillar for the U-20s and may well be the same for the U-23s, sometimes a big fish in the kiddie pool desn't translate immediately into success in MLS. Often with time, if the basic skill set is there, it does -- Kyle's break out year last year comes to mind and I'm sure there are similar tales.
Correction to post #1: 2004 was apparently the last Olympic Games to have the overage players exception (3 allowed IIRC) for the U-23 teams. Which I believe had its origins in wanting to allow older goalkeepers but at times was now being used to try and stack teams in other positions. Also as I understand it the reason the U-23s and not the full National Teams play in the Olympics is to keep it from becoming a preview, competitor or dilution of the World Cup. At least so far in the women's game they haven't had to worry about that so the full teams do play.
For those that didn't look, Hunter had an assist on the second goal off of a free kick, Hunter taking dead balls -- who knew?
If I recall correctly, Hunter was the master of the assist while at UVA. I thought, in fact, that he had some sort of assist record for his time there. He may have not even been a defender in his time there. And yes, I'm to lazy/busy to do the research.
You're right. In his last season he led NCAA DI in assists with something like 20. He was never known for his defensive abilities.
Here are some quotes I found relating to the Rapids U-23 contingent. These appeared in an article on ESPN by Andrea Canales, the full article can be found HERE!
RMJB -- Good catch. More here: http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_281718.html "U-23 MNT Set for Wednesday's Match vs. Japan's U-22 Men's National Team" "... Kickoff for the Kirin Challenge Cup is set for 7 p.m. local time (5 a.m. ET). A full match report will be available on ussoccer.com on Wednesday. ..."
They kissed their Asian sister (but maybe in this case it was like a really hot step-sister)*. http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_281720.html No goals or assists to report, Freeman and Hughes didn't play so no Rapids' credit for the SO either. ;>) Sacha Kljestan was Captain and Chris Seitz was MoM with the clean sheet. * Billy Bob Thornton in the Bad News Bears remake.
Back in action tomorrow at 3:00 a.m. MT (7:00 p.m. over there). They play a J. League side that I know exactly nothing about. "The U-23s will conclude their two-match tour on Friday night when they face local JFL side Rosso Kumamoto. Kickoff at KKWing Stadium is set for 7 p.m. local time (5 a.m. ET). The players will depart Japan on Saturday morning and return to their respective clubs to resume training." (From the link above.) There will be 3 very tired looking Rapids at DIA sometime this weekend. ;>) Unless they go straight to Mexico but I doubt that they will?
Question for the RFO. What are their travel plans? It might be fun to give them a totally random welcome home if they come back to DIA.