McBride Joins Altidore, Adu, Bradley on U.S. Olympic Roster

2008-09-10T06:59:20-04:00

2008-07-17T14:01:26-04:00

2008-09-10T06:38:32-04:00

2008-07-19T22:04:25-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/384/204/thumb/Tim_Howard_Stands_In_The_Rain.jpg 372 MN

GoldenThread

Morris 384644

As far as McBride is concerned, there's no doubt that his career has entered the downswing of its twilight. But I think we need consider that Beijing is a foreign land. As for foreign lands, McBride has seen most of them. He's basically a coach in uniform. He can read the pitch and give direction to the younger players. Ultimately....he'll help us win. 2263324

2008-07-19T04:24:15-04:00

lds

Downers Grove 437976

I know I am on the minority on this, however I disagree with McBride's selection to the Olympic team. While his past contributions and experience are unquestionable, at 36 he is not some up and coming player nor some player in his mid/late 20's at the peak of his game. Should have given one more younger player the opportunity to play. Also, as a Chicago Fire fan, I would have loked to see someone from that team at least mentioned as a possibilty. What is Chad Barret's standing among the pool of young forwards in the League? 2260741

2008-07-18T20:22:37-04:00

Jab00

washingtion 441693

"Wait, I'm a little confused. In the Olympics, Men's Soccer is Under-23? If so, you're saying that Ronaldinho is under 23 and playing in the Olympics? I know they start early in futbol, but he's under 23?!?!?!? He's been the best player in the world for like 6 years or something." ________________________________________________________________ Vedderisbetter, each team is allowed three over age player. Ronaldinho is one of those three. 2259827

2008-07-18T16:36:17-04:00

Kenny81

Winton 162346

Brian sucks!!! Leave him at home, i don't even know why his name would generate headlines in the soccer world. We've heard more about Mcbride in the past few weeks than we have Altidore transferring to Europe! 2258582

2008-07-18T14:16:04-04:00

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vedderisbetter

Atlanta 10068

Wait, I'm a little confused. In the Olympics, Men's Soccer is Under-23? If so, you're saying that Ronaldinho is under 23 and playing in the Olympics? I know they start early in futbol, but he's under 23?!?!?!? He's been the best player in the world for like 6 years or something. 2256790

2008-07-18T14:14:54-04:00

12alomar

Toronto 155246

Look for this squad to do what they failed to do at the U21 in Toronto last year. Win gold. Book it. 2256770

2008-07-18T13:26:42-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/879/92/thumb/447.jpg 5974 NY

Anthony Verna

New York 88292

never mind it just dawned on me that in the olympics england competes as GB so an english only team couldn't be sent. rustyshackleferd | 07/18/08, 04:49 AM -------------------------- Yes, it's a complicated issue for this sport. There is some lobbying for a GB team in the 2012 Olympics (since London is the host city), but the Scottish and Welsh FAs have not approved any plans for it. 2256098

2008-07-18T12:10:56-04:00

solasoy

Longmont 455644

Nigeria and Netherlands are likely to be the group leaders. While the US team is undeniably a good one, the level of talent in the Dutch and Nigerian squads is simply overwhelming 2255198

2008-07-18T09:54:20-04:00

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DrewVT6

Rochester 7586

I like the team. They should be fun to watch! Watching the team in Sydney is some of the most fun I've had watching the US play. It kicked off Josh Wolff's run that led to his WC'02 roster spot. It'll be great to see how the young guys can play and step up. I'm interested to see how Rogers and Kljestan do. 2253053

2008-07-18T09:11:48-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/337/74/thumb/america_flag.jpg 141 TX

smitty6000

Houston 33874

No mention of Arturo Alvarez, he's got to be a better choice than Feihaber at this point even with a sub-par 1/2 season for him. 2252434

We’ll see how everything plays out in China, but it’s hard to quibble with the picks coach Peter Nowak has made for the U.S. men’s Olympic soccer team, which were announced on Thursday. We’d already known that 36-year-old Brian McBride was likely to be one of the “over-age” players added to the roster for the Olympics, an under-23 men’s tournament that allows each team three players older than the age cut-off. But now that McBride’s presence is official, the prospect of an attacking trio that includes Jozy Altidore, Freddy Adu and McBride seems like a potentially dangerous one. “If we're both selected that would be awesome,” Altidore told me last week. “Brian’s a superb player. He’s probably been the best U.S. striker we've ever had in terms of target men, and I think he's one of the better ones in the world now at this point in his career.” Judging by his strong finish to the Premier League season with Fulham, McBride still has his mojo and could be extremely useful heading balls down onto the feet of Altidore, Adu, Sacha Kljestan and Robbie Rogers. Nowak’s other over-age picks make pretty good sense, too. Goalkeeper Brad Guzan has just signed with Aston Villa, and as the senior-team back-up to Tim Howard he’ll get some vital experience in the pressure-cooker of a world tournament. The same goes for the other over-age selection, New England Revolution defender Michael Parkhurst, who will try to show once again that you don’t need to be a physically imposing centerback to make an impact. (Other options here could have included Jimmy Conrad or Jay Demerit, but Parkhurst seems ready, and his almost-eerie avoidance of yellow cards bodes especially well for tournament soccer.) The only mild surprise is the inclusion of Benny Feilhaber, who was injured at the U-23s’ last tournament in France. Feilhaber has dealt with a rash of injuries and poor club form in the year since his wonderstrike beat Mexico in the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup, and he needs some good things to happen to turn his career around. The U.S. has a tough first-round group, opening against Japan and following that with games against the Netherlands and Nigeria. And it's looking like the tournament will have some star power. Argentina has announced a roster that includes Lionel Messi, Juan Román Riquelme and Sergio Agüero, while Brazil has announced a roster that includes Ronaldinho, Robinho, Alexandre Pato, Anderson and Jô. One thing I don't understand is why CONCACAF was the only major confederation that scheduled senior-team World Cup qualifiers during the Olympic tournament. The built-in conflict made sure that Landon Donovan and other potential Olympic-team players were not part of the process and made Nowak's job harder than it should have been. (UPDATE: A source close to the situation tells me that CONCACAF was willing to move the date of the U.S.-Guatemala World Cup qualifier so that it didn't conflict with the Olympics, but U.S. Soccer opted to keep the date since it is an official FIFA international date and would allow the U.S. to call in its best players from European clubs.)  Here is the U.S. roster: GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake) DEFENDERS (5): Patrick Ianni (Houston Dynamo), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Michael Parkhurst (New England Revolution), Nathan Sturgis (Real Salt Lake), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC) MIDFIELDERS (7): Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Danny Szetela (Brescia Calcio) FORWARDS (4): Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF), Brian McBride (out of contract), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew) What do you think of this 18? Can the U.S. get out of its group? 1305 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/194/315/thumb/wahl_grant.jpg 11 MD

Grant Wahl

Baltimore 194615