KANSAS CITY, Mo. - U.S. Men's National Team manager Bruce Arena has selected the 23 players that will compete in the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup, the regional championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean. Included on the 23-man roster are Wizards defender Jimmy Conrad and forward Josh Wolff. The Wizards duo will join the U.S. National Team on June 26th in Portland, Oregon before moving to Seattle on July 3rd.
The 12-team Gold Cup tournament runs from July 6-24 in six cities across the United States. The U.S. will compete in Group B along with Canada, Costa Rica and Cuba, opening the tournament July 7 against Cuba at Qwest Field in Seattle. Kickoff is set for 9:30 p.m. CT, and the match will be broadcast live on Telefutura.
The U.S. continues group play against Canada on July 9 in Seattle (3:30 p.m. CT, Telefutura), then heads East to finish out the opening round against Costa Rica at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass. (6 p.m. CT, Telefutura). Fans can follow all the U.S. matches live on ussoccer.com's MatchTracker, presented by Philips Electronics.
"This is a great opportunity to further the continuity of our group, and to get a chance to look at players in meaningful matches," said Arena, who holds a 10-1-2 lifetime record in the Gold Cup and a championship title in 2002. "We have a blend of experience and some new faces, and these games will be very important in terms of formulating our roster for the rest of qualifying. We are certainly entering the tournament with the goal of winning the competition."
Wolff returns to the National Team following his participation in the last series of World Cup qualifiers earlier this month. He started against Costa Rica on June 4th, picking up his 31st cap with the senior team. He has seven career goals in his 31 appearances, including the game-winning goal against Costa Rica in the 2002 Gold Cup Championship match.
Conrad seeks to earn his first cap after earning his first taste of National Team camp back in February. He was called in to the U.S. squad in advance of the their World Cup Qualifier match against Trinidad & Tobago and accompanied the team to Port-of-Spain, but did not dress for the match. He joins San Jose midfielder Brad Davis and New England goalkeeper Matt Reis as the only three players on the Gold Cup roster in search of their first international cap.
The U.S. has appeared in all seven Gold Cup competitions since 1991, capturing two titles and reaching at least the semifinals in six of seven events. The U.S. enters the 2005 tournament with an unblemished 16-0-0 record in group play, having posted shutouts in 19 of 31 all-time Gold Cup games.
Should the U.S. advance as the first or second place finisher in the group, their quarterfinal matchup would take place July 16 in Foxboro, with the semifinals slated for July 21 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. The 2005 Gold Cup Final will also be played at Giants Stadium, with kickoff scheduled for July 24 at 3 p.m. ET.
U.S. MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM ROSTER BY POSITION
Goalkeepers (3) - Marcus Hahnemann (Reading FC), Kasey Keller (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Matt Reis (New England Revolution)
Defenders (7) - Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Eddie Pope (Real Salt Lake), Tony Sanneh (Chicago Fire), Greg Vanney (FC Dallas)
Midfielders (9) - Chris Armas (Chicago Fire), DaMarcus Beasley (PSV Eindhoven), Brad Davis (San Jose Earthquakes), Clint Dempsey (New England Revolution), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids), John O'Brien (ADO Den Haag), Ben Olsen (D.C. United), Steve Ralston (New England Revolution)
Forwards (4) - Conor Casey (FSV Mainz), Eddie Johnson (FC Dallas), Pat Noonan (New England Revolution), Josh Wolff (Kansas City Wizards)
