FC Dallas midfielders Arturo Alvarez and Dax McCarty today were named among 22 players that U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team head coach Peter Nowak has called into training camp at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., in preparation for a two-match tour in China where the U.S. will face the Chinese U-23 national team. The duo joins FCD teammates Anthony Wallace and Abdus Ibrahim away on international duty this week, with both Wallace and Ibrahim currently in camp with the U.S. U-20 team for a camp and exhibition games in Argentina.
This will be the first gathering of the U-23 MNT since Nowak took the reins in August, and is the first major camp in preparation for the final round action of the 2008 CONCACAF Men's Under-23 Championship to be held from March 11-23, 2008, in Los Angeles, Tampa and Nashville. The eight-team tournament will send the two finalists to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Alvarez, in his fifth year in MLS, had a breakout year, appearing in 35 of 37 games in all competitions, scoring a total of eight goals. He was also part of the U-23 camp in February that played a pair of friendly games in Japan. In his second-year as a professional, McCarty played in 25 of FCD's 30 regular season games this year, scoring once and leading the team with seven assists. He also appeared in all five games for the U.S. U-20 National Team that advanced to the Quarterfinals of the FIFA U-20 World Cup this past summer in Canada.
The team will gather Dec. 1 in Carson and train for a week before departing on Dec. 8 for China. The U-23's will play two matches against the Chinese U-23s, first on Dec. 13 at the Changsha He Long Sports Centre in Changsha, then three days later at the Yue Xiu Shan Stadium in Guangzhou.
The U.S. is gearing up for CONCACAF Olympic qualifying in March, with seven out of the eight participating teams having been finalized. Reaching the final round to join Canada, the USA and Mexico were qualifiers Guatemala and Honduras from the Central American Zone, and Cuba and Haiti from the Caribbean Zone. Panama and Costa Rica will play a two-game home-and-away playoff series later this month, with the winner becoming the eighth team in the final round tournament.
The Home Depot Center and Raymond James Stadium will each host three doubleheaders in group play, while LP Field in Nashville will host the semifinals on Thursday, March 20, and the championship match and third-place game on Sunday, March 23.
