Yes I know its early, and yes I know we don't even have a coach yet for the squad; but I can't help but stop to think about how the Olympics would be a great opportunity to showcase American soccer to the American public especially after this World Cup showing we had. It will be watched by everyone in America, and we should be able to field a decent squad. So I was trying to compile a list of '85s or younger (thats the cut off right) that would be likely to be in the pool for qualifying, which I guess would be mostly the latest U-20 squad at the WYC plus the '85s. I also figure at that level everyone should be playing professional football, if not starting for a squad. Here's what I got so far: GK Quentin Westburg (Troyes) DEF Jonathan Spector (West Ham) Nathan Sturgis (LA Galaxy) Marvell Wynne (NYRB) Tim Ward (Columbus) Hunter Freeman (Colorado) Patrick Ianni (Houston) MID Eddie Gaven (Columbus) Benny Feilhalber (HSV) Sacha Klejstan (Chivas USA) Freddy Adu (DC United) Michael Bradley (Heerenveen) Lee Nguyen (PSV) Danny Szetela (Columbus) Arturo Alvarez (FC Dallas) Stuart Holden (Houston) FOR Chad Barrett (Chicago Fire) Jemal Johnson (Wolverhampton) Johann Smith (Bolton) Sammy Ochoa (Tecos) Jacob Peterson (Colorado) Robbie Rogers (Heerenveen) Preston Zimmerman (HSV) Josmer Altidore (NYRB) David Arvizu (NYRB) This could lead to a line up close to this: --------Barrett------JJ---------- -Adu---------------------Ngyuen/Gaven- --------Bradley-Feilhaber---------------- -Ward--Sturgis--Spector---Wynne------- Of course its hard to predict how people will be playing in 2 years, but that looks like a solid squad to me, with quality on the bench as well.
Here's all of the pros I know of (anyone got any word on the whereabouts of Jay Denny, Christian Jimenez and Craig Capano?): Hunter Freeman, D, 1985, COL Patrick Ianni, D, 1985, HOU Jonathan Spector, D, 1986, West Ham United (England) Jamil Fearrington, D, 1986, FC Kobenhavn (Denmark) Marvell Wynne, D, 1986, NY Erik Hort, D, 1987, Sparta Prague (Czech Republic) Tim Ward, D, 1987, CLB Nathan Sturgis, D, 1987, LA Blake Wagner, D, 1988, DAL Neven Subotic, D, 1988, Mainz (Germany) Chad Barrett, F, 1985, CHI Will John, F, 1985, KC Alex Smith, F, 1985, DAL Jay Denny, F, 1986, No Club Jacob Peterson, F, 1986, COL Jamie Watson, F, 1986, RSL Sammy Ochoa, F, 1986, Tecos (Mexico) Lee Nguyen, F, 1986, PSV Eindhoven (Holland) Johann Smith, F, 1987, Bolton FC (ENG) Estuardo Sanchez, F, 1988, CHV David Arvizu, F, 1988, NY Preston Zimmerman, F, 1988, Hamburg SV (Germany) Josmer Altidore, F, 1989, NY Freddy Adu, F, 1989, DCU Quentin Westberg, GK, 1986, Troyes FC (France) Benny Feilhaber, M, 1985, Hamburg SV (Germany) Arturo Alvarez, M, 1985, DAL Craig Capano, M, 1985, No Club Stuart Holden, M, 1985, HOU Sacha Kljestan, M, 1985, CHV Guillermo Gonzalez, M, 1986, LA Eddie Gaven, M, 1986, CLB Christian Jimenez, M, 1986, No Club Dax McCarty, M, 1987, DAL Rodrigo Lopez, M, 1987, CHV Robbie Rogers, M, 1987, Hereenveen (Holland) Nicolas Torres, M, 1987, Club Deportivo Espanol (ARG) Danny Szetela, M, 1987, CLB Michael Bradley, M, 1987, Hereenveen (Holland) Miguel Gonzalez, M, 1987, NE Carlos Borja, M, 1988, CHV Quavas Kirk, M, 1988, LA Michael Dal Pra, M, 1988, Udinese (Italy) Nikolas Besagno, M, 1988, RSL And because there are so few pros, here are some non-pro keepers: Andrew Kartunen, GK, 1985, Stanford Justin Hughes, GK, 1985, University of North Carolina Tally Hall, GK, 1985, San Diego State Phil Marfuggi, GK, 1986, Clemson Evan Bush, GK, 1986, Akron Marcus Rein, GK, 1987, Wake Forest Kevin Guppy, GK, 1987, Cal State Northridge Chay Cain, GK, 1987, Chicago Magic Stephen Sandbo, GK, 1987, SMU Chris Seitz, GK, 1987, University of Maryland Mike Gustavson, GK, 1987, University of South Carolina Bryant Rueckner, GK, 1988, PSG (Calif.) Diego Restrepo, GK, 1988, HC United Evan Newton, GK, 1988, Beach FC Hurricanes Obviously what happens during the MLS season in 2007 will make a big difference. Here's a possible XI: Tally Hall, GK, 1985, San Diego State Nathan Sturgis, D, 1987, LA Jonathan Spector, D, 1986, West Ham United (England) Patrick Ianni, D, 1985, HOU Marvell Wynne, D, 1986, NY Michael Bradley, M, 1987, Hereenveen (Holland) Benny Feilhaber, M, 1985, Hamburg SV (Germany) Eddie Gaven, M, 1986, CLB Freddy Adu, M, 1989, DCU Chad Barrett, F, 1985, CHI Lee Nguyen, F, 1986, PSV Eindhoven (Holland)