What's next for Adu and the U-17'S?

"The US will play friendlies against Mexico and Costa Rica in California this May...."

http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/NationalTeams/1050897337/view

 

Quick question about Freddy:

If he continues to progress as hoped/expected, would he still play for the U17's next time around?
Or since he would probably be playing for the U20's, would he not play? Are there eligiblity issues? (i.e. you can't play in the U17s if you play in the U20s)

Thanks,

BWogs

 

im pretty sure that you can only play for the u17 team once but that you can play for the u20 and u23 teams as long as you are age eligible.

 

anyone know when and where these games are going to be?

 

Will Adu still be on the U17s in August for WC? I don't know the U20 schedule but is it possible he could be bumped up and not play on the WC stage?

I doubt it - wouldn't US Soccer want to do everything they could to win that tourney? Adu would generate a lot of publicity and interest from foreign sources. I expect him to play in the WC for U17s even though his talent could likely qualify him for the U20s.

 

Not listed on USSoccer.com (despite their redesign).

 

I guess the only potential problem I see with him playing for the U17s next time around if he can, is that they would probably want him to train and play with the team leading up to the tourney.

That could be bad for his development if he stuck playing with 15 and 16 year olds when his level of play is more suited towards playing with older players. Just a thought

I am not sure about the U17s and U20s schedule down the road, but since they both have their world championships this year I figure it would be the same in a couple of years. Of course with the Olympics in 2 years, that could change things.

 

He can't play for the U-17s at a FIFA event after this cycle.

 

Is that true for the U18's, U20s, and U23s as well?

I wonder what the reasoning is for only being able to play the U17s once.

Thanks

 

No, only for the U17s and the reasoning for the rule is to prevent age-cheating.

 

From Article 22 in the section of player eligibility regulations for the U17 tournament:

2 Players who have already taken part in a fi nal competition of the FIFA U-17 World Championship shall not be authorised to compete again in another FIFA U-17 World Championship, even if still eligible from the point of view of age. Players who have only taken part in the preliminary competition of a FIFA U-17 World Championship are exempt from this restriction.

 

Thanks. So, it's only playing in the final tournament (in Finland) that will disqualify Adu from the next U-17 cycle.

Costa Rica's best player in the '86 age group played about 20 minutes in the '01 U-17 World Cup, so he wasn't allowed to play for the team this year. The Costa Rican federation apparently was unaware of the rule. Of course, they still qualfied in Canada last month without this player. FWIW, La Nacion said FIFA created this rule to stop age-cheating.

 

Currently it looks like the 17's will be in Los Angeles the end of May to train and play Mexico and Costa Rica. They will then head to South Korea from LA to play a tournament with Poland, Argentina and S. Korea.