Soccer By Ives

Nowak names 24-man roster for U.S. Under-23 national team camp

European-based forwards Charlie Davies, Preston Zimmerman and Kamani Hill headline the 24-man roster chosen by U.S. Under-23 national team head coach Peter Nowak ahead of a two-week training camp in January in Bradenton, Florida. The camp is being held as part of preparations for U.S. Olympic qualifying.

Here is the roster:

GOALKEEPERS: Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake), Chris Brown (Boston College), Billy Chiles (Towson University)
DEFENDERS: Sean Franklin (Cal State Northridge), Steve Purdy (1860 Munich), Patrick Ianni (Houston Dynamo), Greg Dalby (SC Charleroi), Julian Valentin (Wake Forest), Pat Phelan (Wake Forest), Mike Randolph (Galaxy), Chance Myers (UCLA)
MIDFIELDERS: Stuart Holden (Houston), Johann Smith (Darlington), Dax McCarty (FC Dallas), Stephen King (Maryland), Alejandro Bedoya (Boston College), Eric Avila (UC Santa Barbara), Arturo Alvarez (FC Dallas), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)
FORWARDS: Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Charlie Davies (Hammarby), Preston Zimmerman (Hamburg), Chad Barrett (Chicago Fire), Kamani Hill (Vfl Wolfsburg)

If you are wondering where MLS-based stars Jozy Altidore and Maurice Edu are, they are both taking part in the U.S. national team camp in California.

The U-23 camp will take place from Jan. 6 to Jan. 20 and will be used as preparation for the U.S. team's upcoming Olympic qualifiers in Tampa in March.

What do you think of this group of players? Is there anybody missing? Is there anybody who surprised you by being selected? Share your thoughts below.

Altidore and Donovan headline U.S. national team camp roster

Landon Donovan, Jozy Altidore and Brad Guzan headline the 26-man roster Bob Bradley selected for the U.S. national team's January camp.

The squad will begin training on January 3 at Home Depot Center in Carson, California ahead of the national team's first friendly, on Jan. 19 against Sweden.

Here is the roster:

GOALKEEPERS – Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Will Hesmer (Columbus Crew), Matt Pickens (Chicago Fire), Zach Wells (D.C. United)
DEFENDERS  – Dan Califf (Aalborg BK), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Ramiro Corrales (SK Brann), Todd Dunivant (Toronto FC), Clarence Goodson (San Jose Earthquakes), Drew Moor (FC Dallas), Michael Parkhurst (New England Revolution), Eddie Robinson (Houston Dynamo), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)
MIDFIELDERS – Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Justin Mapp (Chicago Fire), Pat Noonan (New England Revolution)
FORWARDS – Josmer Altidore (New York Red Bulls), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Eddie Johnson (Kansas Cit y Wizards), Chris Rolfe (Chicago Fire), Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution), Jeremiah White (AGF Aarhus)

If you are wondering where most of the big names are, keep in mind that European-based players are still in their seasons (except for Scandanavian leagues). I will offer my take on the roster shortly. Let me know what you think of Bradley's selections in the comments section below.

Monday Morning Center Back: Out with the old, in with the new

Good morning people. I know some of you are at work today wondering like heck why you didn't save up one more sick day to use on this exact day.

As we stare at the clock and think about tonight's New Year's Eve celebration, you might want to think about 2007 and what it meant for American soccer and the soccer world in general. It wasn't a boring year by any stretch. In fact, for it to not be a World Cup year, or even a year with World Cup qualifying or a European Championship, 2007 was pretty exciting on the soccer pitch.

For those of you who may have missed it, here is my take on the 10 best storylines in American soccer in 2007 for ESPN.com. Everyone is doing these types of year-end lists so I had to do mine and I think it's fair to say that you can ask 10 people their choices for 10 best storylines and you will get 10 different answers.

With 2007 almost over, it is time to think about 2008 and all the great stories to come. The New Year will also bring some major changes to SBI. You will hear about those changes very soon.

For now, enjoy the last day of the year. I will come back with a few posts throughout the day to get you through this workday (which I'm sure will feel longer than most) so stay tuned.

The last full EPL Matchday of the year: Your running commentary

Good morning folks. Today marks the final fulll day of soccer of the season and the English Premier League has been kind enough not to take this weekend off.

Instead, we have a robust schedule of matches, all of which can be seen either on Fox Soccer Channel or Setanta Sports USA. I will be busy attending to non-soccer matters today so I figured the least I could do was give you folks a post where you could add your comments on today's matches.

Whether you're home lounging, or at work for some reason, feel free to follow along here as everyone shares their comments below.

Enjoy the action.

Meet Fulham's new manager: Roy Hodgson

Fulham has named its permanent replacement for fired coach Lawrie Sanchez on Friday, choosing veteran manager Roy Hodgson to take over. Hodgson will be on the sidelines for Fulham's match against Birmingham.

What will this mean for the Americans? It shouldn't mean a thing for Clint Dempsey, who is a first-choice player no matter who is the coach, but it will be interesting to see what becomes of Carlos Bocanegra. The Fulham defense has been a wreck and it will be interesting to see what Hodgson does to fix the back-line.

What do you think of this hire? Do you think Dempsey and company will benefit from learning from such an experienced manager? Do you foresee an overhaul of players that could claim Bocanegra? Share your thoughts below.

This weekend's soccer on TV

It's all England, all the time this weekend. With the other leagues on Europe on a winter break, we will be forced to live on a steady diet of EPL action this weekend.

If the EPL isn't your cup of tea then you might consider watching GolTV, which will have several replays of some of the year's best games, from the Colombia-Argentina World Cup qualifier to a good Spain-Sweden Euro qualifier.

If you prefer the live stuff, and prefer the EPL, then you'll have some quality choices. Actually, if you have Setanta Sports and Fox Soccer Channel you will have access to all 10 EPL games this weekend.

And here they are, all 10 EPL games on TV this weekend. Enjoy:

TGIF: The last weekend

Good morning people. The end of the year is fast approaching and as we begin to find a slew of year-end stories capping the best games, moments and stories (mine is coming on ESPN.com shortly) I got to thinking about what exactly was the most memorable moment of 2007 for American soccer fans.

The question is simple enough. What one soccer moment will stand out in your mind from 2007? Was it a great goal (Like Messi's Maradona-like run)? Was it a game (like the Red Bulls-Galaxy thriller in a packed Giants Stadium)?

What moment stands out for me? Benny Feilhaber's game-winning goal in the Gold Cup final comes to mind. If something else comes to me I'll post it later.

For now, I want to hear from you. What was the most memorable soccer moment of 2007 for you? Share your thoughts below.

Morning Ticker: Olympic Qualifying Sked set, ManU in first, Fronaldo heads home and trouble for a former MLS player

 

Good morning everybody. Let me start by apologizing for the low number of posts recently. I can assure you that the action will pick up after New Year's Day. For now, I will try to keep you updates on the goings on in the American and international soccer world.

Before we get into the day's events, I must make another request for SBI readers to take part in the SBI reader roll call. If you haven't already taken part, please do so. Your input is going to go a long way toward helping me shape and set a direction for SBI as we head into 2008.

Secondly, I have not forgotten about the most recent Q&A session. I am working on it and am hoping to have it done for tomorrow. It will be done by Monday at the latest.

Now, onto the news. Here are some recent tidbits you may or may not have heard:

U.S. Olympic qualifying games set. The U.S. Under-23 national team learned the path it will take to Olympic qualifying yesterday as the match schedule for CONCACAF Olympic qualifying was announced. The Americans will face Cuba (March 11), Panama (March 13) and Honduras (March 15), with all matches being played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. There will be tripleheaders played each of these days, with the U.S. team's game serving as the nightcap on each occasion.

The top two teams in the group will join the top two teams in Group B (Mexico, Canada, Haiti, Guatemala) in the semifinals and final, which take place in Memphis Nashville on March 20 and 23.

I was going to point out that the Americans should have little trouble qualifying, but you know what happened the last time around. That said, this Olympic team should qualify and this qualifying tournament should give us a good glimpse at what Peter Nowak has planned for the Olympics.

Americans Abroad: Boxing Day Rewind

American soccer players had a busy Boxing Day in England on Wednesday, with 10 of them playing at least a half and nine earning starts (That's including Watford's Jay DeMerit and Millwall's Zak Whitbread.)

There were mixed results, from Tim Howard posting yet another shutout for Everton to Carlos Bocanegra watching his Fulham defense be torn to shreds yet again. There were even two goal-scorers on the day, with usual suspect Clint Dempsey being joined by DeMerit.

Before I get to the rundown, I wanted to talk about Benny Feilhaber's performance for Derby County against Liverpool. It had its ups and downs, but his effort, or lack thereof, late in the match could hurt his chances for more playing time in the future.

Boxing Day EPL Soccer (Your running commentary)

Good morning folks. It is the day after Christmas, which means you are either heading to work and hating it or you're laying around enjoying another day off.

It also means a full slate of Boxing Day English Premier League matches. I listed today's TV schedule yesterday. Now, you can follow along with the action here. I won't be doing a marathon running commentary like Sunday but I figured I could provide a post for SBI readers to share their thoughts and views on today's matches. Those of you lucky enough to have Setanta or Fox Soccer Channel can feel free to discuss the action, and share it with those folks stuck at work today.

Enjoy the action: