Porter Names Final Olympic Qualifying Roster
US U-23 Men’s National Team head coach Caleb Porter named the final Olympic qualifying roster to compete during the process used to select the CONCACAF representatives for the London 2012 Olympics.
The roster remained the same with one exception, D Sheanon Williams (Philadelphia Union) was added to round out the squad when Josh Gatt was recalled by his club Molde FK in Norway. Freddy Adu was named captain and Perry Kitchen was named vice-captain.
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This is quite possibly one of the most talented, and certainly the most professionally accomplished, group going into Olympic qualifying the US has ever assembled for the U-23s. That point can be left to be debated. However, there is not a single college player on the roster and eight players have at least one cap with the senior MNT. Eleven of the players were developed through the U-17 residency program and five players are employed outside the United States with the rest on MLS clubs domestically.
This roster does not reflect European based players who are age eligible but not allowed to participate due to club obligations. Additionally, Caleb Porter has stated that overage players are yet to be decided on because the squad is focused on qualifying since overage players are not allowed to be used during the qualifying process.
Here is the complete US roster:
GOALKEEPERS (2): Bill Hamid (D.C. United; Annandale, Va.), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire; Lilburn, Ga.)
DEFENDERS (6): Perry Kitchen (D.C. United; Indianapolis, Ind.), Ike Opara (San Jose Earthquakes; Durham, N.C.), Kofi Sarkodie (Houston Dynamo; Huber Heights, Ohio), Zarek Valentin (Montreal Impact; Lancaster, Pa.), Jorge Villafaña (Chivas USA; Anaheim, Calif.), Sheanon Williams (Philadelphia Union; Boston, Mass.)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Freddy Adu (Philadelphia Union; Potomac, Md.), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana; Chula Vista, Calif.), Mix Diskerud (Gent; Oslo, Norway), Jared Jeffrey (Mainz; Richardson, Texas), Amobi Okugo (Philadelphia Union; Sacramento, Calif.), Michael Stephens (LA Galaxy; Naperville, Ill.)
FORWARDS (6): Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls; Barnegat, N.J.), Terrence Boyd (Borussia Dortmund; Berlin, Germany), Teal Bunbury (Sporting Kansas City; Prior Lake, Minn.), Joe Gyau (Hoffenheim: Silver Spring, Md.), Brek Shea (FC Dallas; Bryan, Texas), Tony Taylor (Estoril Praia, Jacksonville, Fla.)
