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U.S. under-23 men Myernick chooses 22 players as Olympic qualifying approaches.(Thursday, January 22, 2004) -- Coach Glenn (Mooch) Myernick selected 22 players to the roster of the United States under-23 men with qualifying for the 2004 Summer Olympics less than two weeks away. The CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament runs February 2-12 in Guadalajara, Mexico. Myernick will hold a seven-day training camp before trimming his roster to 20 by the January 31 deadline. "It's been a two-year process in which I've learned a lot about this pool of players, and overall I think it's a very talented pool," said Myernick in a U.S. Soccer Federation press release. "Maybe we're not as experienced in some areas as others, but they're still a very capable team." In Group A, the U.S. faces Panama February 3, followed by matches against Canada February 5 and Honduras February 7. All three games will be played at the 10,000-seat Estadio Tres de Marzo and start at 7 p.m. (ET) Mexico, Costa Rica, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago play in Group at Estadio Jalisco. The top two teams from each group will meet in the semifinals February 10 at Estadio Jalisco with the winners of those matches earning CONCACAF's two Olympics berth. The winner of each group faces the runnerup from the other group with the semifinal winners meeting February 12 in an anticlimactic final to determine the champion from the region that includes North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The Ameriacns are led by two veterans of the 2002 U.S. World Cup quarterfinal finish - striker Landon Donovan and midfielder DaMarcus Beasley. Midfielder\defender Bobby Convey and Donovan led the senior national team with 15 appearances in 2003. The trio of experienced midfielders, along with defensive midfielder Kyle Beckerman, hail from the U.S. team that finished fourth at the 1999 under-17 world championships. Donovan and Beasley took the top two individual honors in that tournament, winning the Golden Ball and Silver Ball, respectively, as the top two goal scorers. Donovan, 21, was a member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic team that finished fourth in Sydney, Australia., advancing beyond the first round for the first time. Also on Myernick's roster are the team's three leading scorers in 2003 -- forwards David Testo, Edson Buddle and Alecko Eskandarian. Buddle finished tied for 10th in MLS with 10 goals and 11th with 24 points. Buddle and Testo are joined on the roster by three Columbus Crew teammates -- midfielder Kyle Martino, and defenders Chad Marshall and Chris Wingert. Testo, Marshall and Wingert all were selected by the Crew in last week's draft. Wingert received the MAC Herman Trophy as the best Division I men's player after helping St. John's advance to the NCAA championship game and a 2-1 loss to Indiana. The only player on the team that is not part of MLS is Zak Whitbread who lives in Liverpool, England, and is part of the Liverpool FC youth program, Attacker Ed Johnson earned the Golden Boot as the leading goal scorer with four goals (though three were penalty kicks) at the recent under-20 world championships where the U.S. finished fifth. Notably absent from the qualifying roster are defender Oguchi Onyewu of Belgium's RAA Louviere and striker Conor Casey of FC Karlsruher). Neither was released by their clubs. "Both players are significant components in the pool; unfortunately, (world governing body) FIFA rules and their relationship to international fixture dates prevented them from being a part of this squad." said Myernick who took over the U-23s last January. "While I believe that they can possibly help us in the future, I have all the confidence in the world in this team to get the job done." The U.S. advanced to the final round of qualifying by romping over St. Kitts & Nevis by an aggregate of 10-0 in a two-match series. The U.S. under-23 men's roster with hometowns and teams. All players play in MLS except Zak Whitbread in Liverpool: Goalkeepers (2): D.J. Countess (Sacramento, Calif.; Dallas Burn), Doug Warren (Hoffman Estates, Ill,; D.C. United,
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