ESPN

U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team head coach Caleb Porter has named an initial 19-player roster for training camp that will convene March 13 to begin final preparations for the CONCACAF Men’s Olympic Qualifying tournament.

A player withdrew from consideration Monday afternoon following confirmation of an injury. Porter will make one addition to the group after obtaining a release from his club.

The official 20-player roster will be finalized March 20, the due date for all participating teams to submit their rosters to CONCACAF. The U.S. will compete in Group A, which kicks off March 22 at LP Field in Nashville, Tenn.

FC Dallas forward Brek Shea, who has appeared in all 10 of the U.S. Men’s National Team matches under head coach Jurgen Klinsmann, was the 2011 U.S. Young Male Athlete of the Year and is coming off a strong season with FC Dallas that included MLS Best XI recognition and a nomination for MLS Most Valuable Player.

"This is a tremendous opportunity for these young players to get valuable experience in international competition and ultimately qualify for the 2012 Olympics," said Klinsmann, who won a bronze medal in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. "Playing the Olympic Games is a once in a lifetime chance, and we are fully supporting their efforts to qualify. Some of these players will continue their international careers on the senior team in the future, and these situations allow them the chance to grow individually and experience the ups and downs national teams go through, which is so important for their development."

Also of local interest in the team is Richardson native Jared Jeffrey, who plays for Mainz in Germany.

CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying begins on March 22, with Group A games being played at LP Field in Nashville and Group B games at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. The USA was drawn into Group A with Canada, Cuba and El Salvador, while Group B is composed of Mexico, Honduras, Panama and Trinidad & Tobago.

The semifinal and final matches will be played at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan., on March 31 and April 2, respectively. Individual tickets are on sale for the games in Nashville and Carson, and series tickets are available for the knockout phase in Kansas City.

U.S. U-23 MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM ROSTER
Domestic Training Camp – Nashville, Tenn.
March 13-20

Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Birth Date Hometown Club
Adu, Freddy M 5-7 150 06/02/89 Potomac, Md. Philadelphia Union
Agudelo, Juan F 6-0 180 11/23/92 Barnegat, N.J. New York Red Bulls
Boyd, Terrence F 6-0 180 02/16/91 Berlin, Germany Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
Bunbury, Teal F 6-1 180 02/27/90 Prior Lake, Minn. Sporting Kansas City
Corona, Joe M 5-10 165 07/09/90 Chula Vista, Calif. Club Tijuana (Mexico)
Diskerud, Mix M 6-0 150 10/02/90 Oslo, Norway Gent (Belgium)
Gatt, Josh D 5-10 165 08/29/91 Plymouth, Mich. Molde (Norway)
Gyau, Joe F 5-8 155 09/16/92 Silver Spring, Md. Hoffenheim (Germany)
Hamid, Bill GK 6-4 225 11/25/90 Annandale, Va. D.C. United
Jeffrey, Jared M 5-11 165 06/14/90 Richardson, Texas Mainz (Germany)
Johnson, Sean GK 6-3 215 05/31/89 Lilburn, Ga. Chicago Fire
Kitchen, Perry D 6-0 160 02/29/92 Indianapolis, Ind. D.C. United
Okugo, Amobi M 5-11 165 03/13/91 Sacramento, Calif. Philadelphia Union
Opara, Ike D 6-2 170 02/21/89 Durham, N.C. San Jose Earthquakes
Sarkodie, Kofi D 5-9 155 03/22/91 Huber Heights, Ohio Houston Dynamo
Shea, Brek F 6-4 190 02/28/90 Bryan, Texas FC Dallas
Stephens, Michael M 5-9 155 03/04/89 Naperville, Ill. LA Galaxy
Valentin, Zarek D 6-0 155 08/06/91 Lancaster, Pa. Montreal Impact
Villafaña, Jorge D 5-9 150 09/16/89 Anaheim, Calif. Chivas USA

Roster By Position
GOALKEEPERS (2): Bill Hamid (D.C. United; Annandale, Va.), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire; Lilburn, Ga.)
DEFENDERS (6): Josh Gatt (Molde; Plymouth, Mich.), 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.)
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 (5): 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)

National Team Staff
Head Coach: Caleb Porter (West Akron, Ohio)
Assistant Coach: Claudio Reyna (Bedford Corners, N.Y.)
Assistant Coach: John Trask (Shorewood Hills, Wis.)
Goalkeeper Coach: Eric Yamamoto (Los Gatos, Calif.)
Fitness Coach: Randy Rocha (Brookeville, Md.)
Team Coordinator: Jon Fleishman (Long Beach, Calif.)
Equipment Coordinator: Jason Peters (St. Petersburg, Fla.)
Athletic Trainer: Josh Beaumont (Alhambra, Calif.)
Massage Therapist: Mark Higgins (Tinley Park, Ill.)
Videographer: Troy Bardy (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Press Officer: Michael Kammarman (Chicago)

MLS just put out an interesting announcement... (I shortened the press release below.)

MLS, U.S. Soccer Create Professional Referee Organization

New organization will manage referee program for professional leagues in United States and Canada

NEW YORK (Tuesday, March 6, 2012) – Today Major League Soccer and the U.S. Soccer Federation announced the formation of the Professional Referee Organization (PRO), an organization that will be responsible for managing the referee program in professional soccer leagues in the United States and Canada.

The creation of PRO is designed to increase the quality of officiating in U.S. and Canadian professional leagues, develop more professional quality officials at a younger age and develop officials who will represent the United States and Canada in FIFA competitions.

Veteran English referee Peter Walton has been named General Manager of PRO. All current U.S. Soccer professional referee staff positions will transition to PRO and report to Walton, who begins his full-time work for PRO on April 2 and will be based in New York City through the conclusion of the MLS season.

U.S. Soccer and MLS will govern and fund the organization, with ongoing collaborative support from the Canadian Soccer Association and other professional leagues. Beginning this year, PRO will manage officials in the MLS and MLS Reserve games, the North American Soccer League, USL PRO and the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

I had two thoughts immediately after I read the thing...

1. Fantastic, MLS has needed to take their refs to the next level of professionalism. Anything that might make refereeing better in the league in in US soccer I am on board with.

and...

2. Another Englishman? Really? Why is it that any time MLS thinks they need help they go running to the nearest person from England? English refs, officials, managers, and players haven't been the best in the world for quite a while. What is it with us American's and our fixation on Englishmen for soccer?

Is there really no one in CONCACAF that was good enough? Mexico didn't have anyone? What's Essie" Baharmast doing these days? There wasn't anyone from Germany, Italy, Argentina.... so we get yet another Englishman? Lame.

Ok, seriously...

Great news, great move by MLS. Will this Peter Walton be any good? I hope so. Kneejerk reaction aside, he may be great. Can't make MLS refs worse I don't imagine (or could it?).

No matter who they put in there, this has to be seen as a step forward for MLS.

If you read this blog then you probably by now you know that the US defeated Italy 1-0 yesterday.

FC Dallas' Brek Shea, who was called into the US camp late, is clearly still at the top of coach Jurgen Klinsmann's plan as he started the match. The match was Shea's 10th consecutive appearance and eighth start with Klinsmann at the helm. Shea played 73 minutes before making way for Sacha Kljestan.

"Obviously as a coach you’re pleased because you see them progressing. You see young players stepping up and playing against these amazing, experienced Italian players who have won the World Cup and played big tournaments year in and year out. ... Players like Fabian Johnson, Brek Shea, and Danny Williams are young players and they need this experience. ... "For our youngsters, this is big. We wanted to learn here a lot from a tactical side and we did." - Jurgen Klinsmann


Shea is making his way to Orlando to re-join FCD for the latter half of the club's trip.

If you haven' yet seen it, here's Dempsey's goal.



Match: USA vs. Italy
Date: Feb. 29, 2012
Competition: International Friendly
Venue: Stadio Luigi Ferraris – Genoa, Italy
Kickoff: 2:30 p.m. ET
Attendance: 15,000
Weather: 48 degrees, fog
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
Italy 0 0 0
USA 0 1 1
USA – Clint Dempsey (Jozy Altidore) 55th minute

Lineups:
USA : 1-Tim Howard; 2-Steve Cherundolo, 4-Clarence Goodson, 5-Carlos Bocanegra (capt.), 3-Fabian Johnson (13-Jonathan Spector, 77); 6-Michael Bradley, 8-Maurice Edu; 7-Danny Williams,10-Clint Dempsey (17-Edson Buddle, 90), 11-Brek Shea (16-Sacha Kljestan, 73); 9-Jozy Altidore (18-Terrence Boyd, 79)

Subs not used: 12-Nick Rimando, 14-Michael Parkhurst, 15-Geoff Cameron
Head coach: Jurgen Klinsmann

ITA : 1-Gianluigi Buffon (capt.); 2-Christian Maggio (5-Daniel De Rossi, 71), 15-Andrea Barzagli, 20-Angelo Obinze Ogbonna, 4-Domenico Criscito (3-Giorgio Chiellini, 46); 13-Thiago Motta (7-Gianpaolo Pazzini, 59), 21-Andrea Pirlo, 8-Claudio Marchisio (11-Ignazio Abate, 71), 23-Antonio Nocerino (18-Riccardo Montolivo, 46); 9-Alessandro Matri (22-Fabio Borini, 59), 10-Sebastian Giovinco

Subs not used: 6-Federico Balzaretti, 14-Davide Astori, 16-Salvatore Sirigu, 17-Emiliano Viviano, 19-Leonardo Bonucci, 24-Morgan De Sanctis
Head coach: Cesare Prandelli

Stats Summary: USA / ITA
Shots: 4 / 19
Shots on Goal: 2 / 7
Saves: 7 / 1
Corner Kicks: 2 / 8
Fouls: 15 / 11
Offside: 0 / 9

Misconduct Summary:
ITA – Giorgio Chiellini 67th minute
USA – Carlos Bocanegra 68th minute

Officials:
Referee: Firat Aydinus (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Serkan Ok (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Aleks Tascioglu (TUR)
Fourth Official: Andrea De Marco (ITA)

Budweiser Man of the Match: Clint Dempsey

On Friday, FC Dallas will head to Orlando, Florida for the final phase of preseason. FCD will play at least four games before returning to Frisco in just over a week. The term measuring stick games is usually reserved for regular season contests, that moniker can definitely be applied to several of the matches they will have during their stay in the Sunshine State.

“It’s our last opportunity to prepare for the season. So the goals for the Florida trip are to try to get the team on the same page, try to figure out where our strengths and areas that we’ve got to be concerned about, try to get guys playing together and playing against good competition,” Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman said earlier this week. “We should feel pretty good about ourselves when we get back.”

After facing a number of college foes both before and after their trip to Cancun, Mexico, FCD stepped up the caliber of preseason competition by facing the United States Under-23 team on Wednesday and fell to the U-23s by a 2-1 score line.

Such a step up in terms of quality of competition is something the FCD players definitely welcome going forward. “I definitely think as a group, we’re ready,” starting right back Zach Loyd said. “We’ve been putting in a lot of work with two-a-days, going to Cancun, putting in some work and playing some teams from other countries. So I think the competition is something we definitely invite. We want to play the best competition we can in preseason.”

FCD captain Daniel Hernandez definitely agrees with Loyd that these games in Orlando are going to be crucial to ensuring that the entire club is ready for their 2012 season opener on Sunday, March 11 against New York. “That’s what preseason’s for-to push yourself and get prepared for the opening game. I think the tougher games that we can play the better for us,” Hernandez said. “Those college games are a good test for us but I think they’re more for us to just try to get our legs back and get some rhythm of play. These tough competition games are what is going to get us prepared.”

Earlier this week, Hyndman said he was about three players away from having the roster the way he wanted it, which means this trip could be crucial for several trialists like Scott Sealy, whom the FCD coach confirmed will be making the trip south.

The Dallas gaffer also didn’t rule out bringing in a few more players who would join them in Florida to have a look at them as possible roster additions.

But of course, the ultimate aim is a simple one for this trip-get his club as ready as possible for the season opener with the Red Bulls.

“I think now we’re at the point where we’ve got to start emphasizing the first team or the top reserve players, the players that we can count on to understand what we’re doing, the structure and then measure our fitness level against the opposition because they’ll be good games, MLS teams and then also to measure our standards against the opposition as well,” Hyndman said. “We’re maybe three, four weeks away before we open the season and like all teams, we’re not ready.”

FCD FLORIDA TRIP SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES CENTRAL)

Saturday, Feb. 25 BK Hacken (Sweden) 7:00
Sunday, Feb. 26 U.S. Under-20 3:00
Tuesday, Feb. 28 Orlando City SC 7:00
Thursday, March 1 Toronto FC* 5:00
Saturday, March 3 Championship* TBD
*-Walt Disney World Resort Pro Soccer Classic

FC Dallas’ final tune-up before heading to Orlando, Fla., later this week came on Wednesday morning against the United States’ Under-23 team. FCD fell 2-1 to an opponent who finished the game with just nine players.

And it was none other than Brek Shea who scored the winning goal for the U-23s, banging one in after a solid cross from Freddy Adu just six minutes into the final frame. However, by the 75^th minute, Shea was gone after receiving his second yellow of the game.

His ejection came some 17 minutes after U.S. teammate Kofi Sarkodie was sent off with a second yellow, albeit a questionable one after a tackle on a FCD speedster just outside the Dallas box.

Andrew Jacobson had the lone goal of the day for Dallas and it came 15 minutes in, just four minutes before the U.S. drew it level thanks to a header by ex-Wake Forest standout Ike Opara. Then, there was an Adu PK attempt in the 36^th minute that Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman stopped.

But overall, it was a solid game where the FCD starters, including David Ferreira, who was seeing his first action of the preseason, played significant minutes. Still, considering they played the final 15 minutes with a two-man advantage, it was a bit disconcerting that Dallas didn’t at least draw things level, their best chance to do so being a Blas Perez free kick five minutes from full time that struck the right post.

So, it’s understandable that the gaffer wasn’t too pleased about today’s loss after it was in the books.

“I don’t know if I’m more hurt by the fact that we lost or the fact that we didn’t score being up two men. Basically, they really couldn’t do anything,” Hyndman said. “We had them pretty much locked in and I thought either the last pass wasn’t good enough or the service wasn’t good enough or the finish wasn’t good enough.”

However, seeing Ferreira back on the pitch, albeit for just 22 minutes, was a huge positive for FCD. The highlight of his first preseason action came when he delivered a solid long ball perfectly to the feet of Castillo on the right side.

“We had planned play him 10-15 minutes and then he wanted to go back in the second half. So I think we gave him another 10 minutes in the second half. I think you probably saw the same thing I saw, once he got on the field there seemed to be a little bit of possession in the game,” Hyndman said. “There was a little bit of purpose in the game and we got away from just trying to break them down with one pass, a through ball, a long ball or an individual play.”

And for Dallas supporters who follow this team closely and were in attendance for this morning’s scrimmage, it was a bit weird to see Shea squaring off with FCD starting right back Zach Loyd as enemies instead of teammates as they normally are.

“Yeah, they’re both head bangers. I thought they both had some good battles. Surprised that they were going at each other as hard as they did considering they’re teammates. But again, they both want to compete,” Hyndman said.

Observations from Today’s Scrimmage

- Blas Perez absolutely blistered the free kick he took in the 85^th minute, raising the possibility that FCD’s set piece issues from 2011 could be a thing of the past.

- There were some flashes from David Ferreira today, but he is still a long way from returning to his 2010 MVP form, if he even does at all.

- Hyndman is legitimately concerned about the health of his central midfield of Daniel Hernandez and Andrew Jacobson going into the season, especially should he choose to go with a 4-4-2 formation going forward.

- Left mid could be a sore spot for FCD this year, especially if Brek Shea is gone for Olympic qualifying as well as for the Olympics and several World Cup qualifiers. Some feel newcomer Carlos Rodriguez is a viable option there, but when Hyndman says he’s not an attacking player as he has said about Rodriguez, why would you put him in a spot where he’s destined to fail?

- The ideal situation at center back would obviously be for George John to return from his loan to West Ham United and renew his solid partnership with Ugo Ihemelu. There is an obvious language barrier between Ihemelu and Colombian newcomer Hernan Pertuz, something that clearly concerns Hyndman.

- Today was the start of FCD facing tougher competition, which leads one to wonder if today’s loss is indicative of similar outcomes in Florida or if today was more of a mere aberration?

FC Dallas dropped a 2-1 decision to the U.S. under-23 national team on the Adidas Field at FC Dallas Stadium. Winger Brek Shea, who was called into national team duty over the weekend, scored the game-winner for Caleb Porter’s side in the 51^st minute. David Ferreira made his first appearance of the spring for FC Dallas when he came on in minute 36.

The US U-23s earned seven of the nine yellow cards handed out in the game, resulting in two ejections. Kofi Sarkodie was sent off for a 2nd yellow in the 58th minute, Break Shea departed with his 2nd yellow in the 75th minute.

FC Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman had a stellar day in goal for the home side. He began by denying the U.S. U-23s of a goal with a point-blank save in the 12^th minute. On the play, Amobi Okugo collected the ball in central midfield and played a ball over the top to Juan Agudelo. With FC Dallas center back Hernan Purtuz on his back, Agudelo chested the ball out in front of him and was in alone on Hartman. Agudelo opted to take a hard shot at the back post, but Hartman punched the shot away to keep the match scoreless.

Dallas battled back and earned a corner kick in the 15^th minute. Colombian forward Fabian Castillo took the kick, lining a cross to the center of the six-yard box, where Andrew Jacobson beat his defender to the ball and nodded a hard finish into the back of the net to give FC Dallas a 1-0 advantage.

The U.S. U-23s found an equalizer just four minutes later on a corner kick taken by Freddy Adu. An exact copy of Jacobson’s goal, Adu picked out Ike Opara at the top of the box and the defender headed a shot to the back post to level the score, 1-1.

FC Dallas got a boost in the 36^th minute when FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman brought on 2010 MLS MVP David Ferreira for the first time since he suffered a season-ending injury on April 23, 2011.

The U.S. U-23s came out strong following the half and got a goal in the 51^st minute from Shea. Playing on the left flank, Shea timed his run well and beat the FC Dallas defense to a ball played over the top by Adu. In alone against Hartman, Shea cracked a hard shot high to the back post from 12-yards out to give the U.S. a 2-1 lead.

The U.S. went down a man in the 58^th minute when Kofi Sarkodie was whistled for his second caution after bringing down Fabian Castillo at the top of the box. The breakout was started by Ferriera, who collected the ball in the center of the pitch before lobbing a perfectly-weighted pass into space for Castillo.

The U-23s lost yet another man in the 75^th minute when Shea was shown his second yellow after coming together with FC Dallas trialist Daniel Osorno. The advantage gave Dallas a distinct advantage in possession as the home side pushed for a late equalizer.

Scoring Summary:
DAL – Andrew Jacobson (Fabian Castillo) 15
USA – Ike Opara (Freddy Adu) 19
USA – Brek Shea (Adu) 51

Misconduct Summary:
USA – Kofi Sarkodie (caution) 23
USA – Brek Shea (caution) 27
USA – Jared Jeffery (caution) 38
USA – Sarkodie (caution) 58
USA – Sarkodie (ejection; second caution) 58
DAL – Andrew Jacobson (caution) 64
USA – Shea (caution) 75
USA – Shea (ejection; second caution) 75
DAL – Blas Perez (caution) 78

Lineups:

FC Dallas – Kevin Hartman (Chris Seitz 69), Jair Benitez (Jonathan Top 75), Ugo Ihemelu (Matt Hedges 72), Hernan Pertuz (Christian Ibeagha 72), Zach Loyd (Castillo 81), Carlos Rodriguez, Daniel Hernandez (Bobby Warshaw 64), Andrew Jacobson (Alex Lee 64), Andrew Wiedeman (David Ferreira 36, Daniel Osorno 58), Blas Perez, Fabian Castillo (Dogba 58).

U.S. Under 23s – Bill Hamid (Sean Johnson 45), Ike Opara (Greg Garza 45), Kofi Sarkodie, Zarek Valentin, Jorge Villafana (Perry Kitchen 45), Amobi Okugo, Juan Agudelo (Michael Stephens 45), Jared Jeffery (Dilly Duka 45), Brek Shea, Freddy Adu (Bunbury 67), Teal Bunbury (Tony Taylor 45, Villafana 76).

When FC Dallas and the United States Under-23 team square off in a 10 AM scrimmage on Wednesday at the FC Dallas Stadium complex, that game could feature a match-up that the FCD players have regularly seen in practice over the last few years.

That’s because if Zach Loyd starts at right back for FCD and Brek Shea starts at left mid for the U-23s, then they could square off against one another, which will not be a new experience for the ex-tar Heel.

“No, it will be normal. We match up in practice every day, so it’ll be just like training all over again,” Loyd said.

But after facing college foes over the last few weeks, the third-year defender admits it will be nice to have a step up in caliber of competition, especially with a trip to Orlando, FCD’s last excursion of the preseason, looming later this week.

“I definitely think as a group, we’re ready. We’ve been putting in a lot of work with two-a-days, going to Cancun, putting in some work and playing some teams from other countries. So I think the competition is something we definitely invite,” Loyd said. “We want to play the best competition we can in preseason and I think that the 23s will be real good test for us going in there before we head down to Orlando and before we play a couple MLS teams.”

FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman clearly agrees. "Yeah, we've been at it for a little bit over a month and we’ve had a lot of new people come in. So we’re trying to make a lot of adjustments and pleased with the progress we’re making but also realize so is every opposition,” Hyndman said. “So we've got to make sure we’re all playing a system of play that we understand and have accepted. People need to know their job description and do it. Then, the competition will bring the best out of us.”

Besides Shea, there are several other names to watch with the Under-23 squad. Of course, Freddy Adu, who is now with the Philadelphia Union, is one such player along with local products Greg Garza of Grapevine and Jared Jeffrey of Richardson, both of whom play in the U.S. midfield. Other names of note include striker Juan Agudelo of the New York Red Bulls and defender Ike Opara, a former standout at Wake Forest who now plays in San Jose.

FC Dallas Academy product Daniel Garcia has been called into the latest US U20 team. Garcia was among the 26 players Head Coach Tab Ramos named to the U.S. under-20 national team training camp Feb. 20-March 1 in Clermont, Fla.

As part of the camp, the U-20s will face the reserve teams from FC Dallas on Feb. 26 and Montreal Impact on Feb. 29 at the Disney Wide World of Sports complex.

Also of local interest are Alfred Koroma of Solar (who has played with FCD Academy on occasion) and Matt Dunn of FC Koeln (who used to be part of the FC Dallas system). Last but not least is former FC Dallas Academy product and current North Carolina defender Boyd Okwuonu.

U.S. U-20 Men's Roster:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Tomas Gomez (Georgetown Univ.; Webster Groves, Mo.), Jesus Guzman (Santos/MEX; San Jose, Calif.), Kamil Kaminski (Legia Warsaw/POL; Berlin, Conn.)

DEFENDERS (8): AJ Cochran (Univ. of Wisconsin; St. Louis, Mo.), Sean Cunningham (Molde FK/NOR; Troy, Mich.), Christian Dean (Univ. of California; East Palo Alto, Calif.), Mobi Fehr (Unattached; Tokyo, Japan), Eric Miller (Creighton Univ.; Woodbury, Minn.), Juan Pablo Ocegueda (Tigres/MEX; Riverside, Calif.), Boyd Okwuonu (Univ. of North Carolina; Edmond, Okla.), Walker Zimmerman (Furman Univ.; Lawrenceville, Ga.).

MIDFIELDERS (10): Seth Casiple (Univ. of California; Rocklin, Calif.), Daniel Cuevas (Santos/MEX; Sacramento, Calif.), Matt Dunn (OFK/SER; Dallas, Texas), Daniel Garcia (FC Dallas Academy; Dallas, Texas), Alejandro Guido (Unattached; Chula Vista, Calif.), Benji Joya (Santos/MEX; San Jose, Calif.), Mikey Lopez (Univ. of North Carolina; Mission, Texas), Collin Martin (D.C. United Academy; Chevy Chase, Md.), Daniel Metzger (Univ. of Maryland; Staten Island, N.Y.), Victor Pineda (Chicago Fire; Bollingbrook, Ill.)

FORWARDS (5): Villyan Bijev (Fortuna Duesseldorf/GER; Fresno, Calif.), Alfred Koroma (Solar Chelsea; Southlake, Texas), Sean Okoli (Wake Forest Univ.; Federal Way, Wash.), Andrew Oliver (Chicago Fire Academy; Indianapolis, Ind.), Omar Salgado (Vancouver Whitecaps; El Paso, Texas).

FC Dallas star midfielder Brek Shea is among 23 players U.S. Under-23 men’s national team head coach Caleb Porter has named for a 10-day training camp in Frisco, Texas. The camp begins Feb. 19 and culminates with a match against Mexico’s U-23 on Feb. 29 at FC Dallas Stadium.

Kickoff is set for 9 p.m. CT, and the match will be broadcast live on Univision.

The training camp and Mexico match make up an important stretch for the U-23s as they get set for the Men’s Olympic Qualifying tournament, with group play kicking off March 22 at LP Field in Nashville, Tenn. “I think Mexico is going to be about as close to a qualifying atmosphere as we can possibly get,” Porter said. “We’re going to have, for the most part, our entire group together for the first time.”

In addition to the Mexico match, the U.S. U-23s will hold scrimmages against FC Dallas of Major League Soccer on Feb. 22, and the North American Soccer League’s new franchise, the San Antonio Scorpions, on Feb. 24.

“The No. 1 priority in this camp is to see our guys in games and to build a little bit of that rhythm by playing multiple games in a short amount of time,” Porter said. “Everything is geared toward the Mexico game, but we want to get a couple of games early in the week to get guys minutes so we can look at everybody to help with those final roster decisions leading into qualifying.”

Five players who had not previously been in camp with the U-23 team will be on hand, including Shea, who has appeared in all nine of the U.S. matches under head coach Jurgen Klinsmann. The 2011 U.S. Young Male Athlete of the Year and Bryan, Texas, native is coming off a strong season with FC Dallas that included MLS Best XI recognition and a nomination for MLS Most Valuable Player.

Texas natives Greg Garza and Jared Jeffrey return to their home state for training and the Mexico match. Jeffrey is from Dallas suburb Richardson, Texas, and Garza hails from Grapevine, Texas, located in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area.

CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying begins on March 22, with Group A games being played at LP Field in Nashville and Group B games at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. The USA was drawn into Group A with Canada, Cuba and El Salvador, while Group B is composed of Mexico, Honduras, Panama and Trinidad & Tobago.

The semifinal and final matches will be played at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan., on March 31 and April 2, respectively. Individual tickets are on sale for the games in Nashville and Carson, and series tickets are available for the knockout phase in Kansas City.

U.S. U-23 MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM ROSTER
Domestic Training Camp -- Frisco, Texas
Feb. 19-March 1

Roster By Position
GOALKEEPERS (2): Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire)
DEFENDERS (7):Greg Garza (Club Tijuana), Perry Kitchen (D.C. United), Alfredo Morales (Hertha Berlin), Ike Opara (San Jose Earthquakes), Kofi Sarkodie (Houston Dynamo), Zarek Valentin (Montreal Impact), Jorge Villafaña (Chivas USA)
MIDFIELDERS (6):Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), Mix Diskerud (Gent), Dilly Duka (Columbus Crew), Jared Jeffrey (Mainz), Amobi Okugo (Philadelphia Union), Michael Stephens (LA Galaxy)
FORWARDS (8):Freddy Adu (Philadelphia Union), Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls), Terrence Boyd (Borussia Dortmund), Teal Bunbury (Sporting Kansas City), Joe Gyau (Hoffenheim), Jack McInerney (Philadelphia Union), Brek Shea (FC Dallas), Tony Taylor (Estoril Praia)

Photo gallery from the US Women's practice yesterday and the game today against New Zealand.

The U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team will face the Mexico Under-23 National Team on Feb. 29 at FC Dallas Stadium in Frisco, Texas, in an important match before the Men's Olympic Qualifying tournament begins. The match kicks off at 9 p.m. CT, and fans can follow on ussoccer.com's MatchTracker and Twitter @ussoccer.

The U.S. U-23s will convene in Frisco on Feb. 19 to train in preparation for the match. U.S. U-23 head coach Caleb Porter will name his roster in the near future.

"This game is very important for our players and comes at a critical time for us before the start of Olympic qualifying," said Porter. "In this camp we expect to have the majority of the players who are in contention for final roster spots for qualifying. A match against Mexico will serve as a great measuring stick both individually and collectively as we put the finishing touches on our roster selection."

Advance tickets starting at $20 go on sale to the public Friday, Feb. 10, at 10 a.m. CT through ussoccer.com, by phone at 1-800-745-3000 and at all Ticketmaster ticket centers throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex (including Walmart and Fiesta stores). Groups of 20 or more can obtain an order form at ussoccer.com or call 312-528-1290.

As a sponsor of U.S. Soccer, Visa® is pleased to offer all Visa cardholders access to an advance ticket sale for this match before the sale to the general public. This advance sale starts Thursday, Feb. 9, at 12 p.m. CT and runs until Friday, Feb. 10, at 8 a.m. CT at ussoccer.com. Visa will be the only payment method accepted through the Visa presale and is the preferred card of U.S. Soccer. Terms and conditions apply.

CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying begins on March 22, with Group A games being played at LP Field in Nashville and Group B games at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. The USA was drawn into Group A with Canada, Cuba and El Salvador, while Group B is composed of Mexico, Honduras, Panama and Trinidad & Tobago.

The U.S. and Mexico U-23s could face each other in the elimination rounds of qualifying if one team finishes first in its group with the other team in second place in its group. Should the USA advance out of Group A, it will play in the second semifinal match at 8 p.m. on March 31. The teams could also meet in the final if they advance to separate semifinals and win.

The semifinal and final matches will be played at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan., on March 31 and April 2, respectively. Individual tickets are on sale for the games in Nashville and Carson , and series tickets are available for the knockout phase in Kansas City.

The U.S. U-23s last met Mexico during qualification for the 2004 Olympic Games, with Mexico emerging with a 4-0 victory. Current U.S. Men's National Team players DaMarcus Beasley, Kyle Beckerman and Landon Donovan were part of the U.S. squad.

All U.S. Soccer fans are invited to attend the U.S. Women’s National Team public training session on Friday, Feb. 10, at FC Dallas Stadium from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. CT in Frisco, Texas. The East Gate of the stadium will open at 10:30 a.m., and admission is free. Fans wishing to attend the open training session are requested to register by logging onto this site to RSVP: http://www.ussoccer.com/Forms/021012-WNT-Public-Training.aspx.

The U.S. Women will face New Zealand on Saturday, Feb. 11, at FC Dallas Stadium in what will be the first Women’s match following their successful Olympic Qualifying campaign in Vancouver, Canada, in which they scored 38 goals en route to a first-place finish. Kickoff is at 3 p.m. CT.

The game marks the first time the WNT will face New Zealand since the 4-0 win in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. It is also the first time the U.S. Women return to Texas since May 2007. The U.S. is unbeaten in Texas and has only lost once to New Zealand in eight meetings, their first matchup in 1987.

More than 16,000 tickets have already been sold for the match, and tickets are still available through ussoccer.com, by phone at 1-800-745-3000 and at all Ticketmaster ticket centers throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex (including Walmart and Fiesta stores).

U.S. Soccer will send out additional information about the session, stadium access points, parking, etc., via email 24 hours prior to the event to those who RSVP. All training times and locations are subject to change.

Pia Sundhage has named 28 players for a training camp prior to the team's first domestic match of the year against New Zealand on Feb. 11 at FC Dallas Stadium in Frisco, Texas. After a week of training, Sundhage will name 18 players to suit up for the game that will pit two participants from the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, and should New Zealand earn Oceania's lone berth to London, two of the 12 teams that will be at the this summer's Olympics, as well. The match will kick off at 3 p.m. CT. More than 14,000 tickets have already been sold for the venue that seats 20,500 fans.

"It is always good to play a World Cup team," said Sundhage. "There were many positives to take out of Olympic Qualifying in Canada and one of those was the depth of the team. We have many talented players and the challenge for the coaching staff will be figuring out the best combination of players as we continue to prepare for the Olympics. A good week of training in Texas, followed by match against a quality opponent like New Zealand, certainly helps in that process."

U.S. Women's National Team Roster by Position - Detailed Roster

GOALKEEPERS (4): Nicole Barnhart, Ashlyn Harris, Jill Loyden, Hope Solo
DEFENDERS (8): Rachel Buehler, Stephanie Cox, Whitney Engen, Amy LePeilbet, Heather Mitts, Kelley O'Hara, Christie Rampone, Becky Sauerbrunn
MIDFIELDERS (12): Yael Averbuch, Shannon Boxx, Tobin Heath, Meghan Klingenberg, Lori Lindsey, Carli Lloyd, Kristie Mewis, Christine Nairn, Heather O'Reilly, Megan Rapinoe, Amy Rodriguez, Keelin Winters
FORWARDS (4): Lauren Cheney, Sydney Leroux, Alex Morgan, Abby Wambach

U.S. Soccer has announced their award winners for 2011 and Brek Shea was named Young Male Athlete of the Year.

U.S. Men's National Team forward Clint Dempsey as the 2011 Male Athlete of the Year and U.S. Women's National Team forward Abby Wambach as the 2011 Female Athlete of the Year. U.S. WNT and U-23 WNT forward Sydney Leroux won the Young Male and Young Female Awards, respectively.

Shea took home Young Male Athlete of the Year after having a breakout year on both the international and professional level. Shea was the first player born in the 1990s to earn a cap for the U.S. MNT, earning eight caps in 2011 as one of three players to feature in all of Jurgen Klinsmann's games as head coach. With FC Dallas, Shea scored 11 goals in 31 games and was named to the 2011 MLS Best XI.

"This was a fun year for me - a lot of chances with the National Team, FC Dallas and getting to train with Arsenal," said Shea. "Hopefully in 2012 I get a chance to go to the Olympics and be a part of World Cup Qualifying. I'm honored to be part of this award. A lot of great players have won it."

YOUNG MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
1998: Josh Wolff
1999: Ben Olsen
2000: Landon Donovan
2001: DaMarcus Beasley
2002: Bobby Convey
2003: Freddy Adu
2004: Eddie Johnson
2005: Benny Feilhaber
2006: Jozy Altidore
2007: Michael Bradley
2008: Sacha Kljestan
2009: Luis Gil
2010: Gale Agbossoumonde
2011: Brek Shea

US Soccer put out this fun little highlight video for 2011. Enjoy.