3. SPOTLIGHT: Sigi Schmid preps U-20s for World Championship
By Ridge Mahoney, Senior Editor
As usual, U.S. under-20 coach Sigi Schmid is sifting through myriad issues and situations as he prepares his team for the FIFA World Youth Championship, which kicks off in the Netherlands next month.
Since last Saturday 16 college and high school players have been training at the Home Depot Center. As many as 10 professional players could be members of the 21-man squad Schmid will take the world championships, yet of that group only goalkeeper Quentin Westberg and defender Jonathan Spector, who play for Troyes (France) and Manchester United, respectively, and MetroStars midfielder Eddie Gaven are guaranteed of starting spots.
"These guys are done with their semesters, the majority of them," says Schmid, "so we're trying to give them a competitive, daily training environment so they can gain fitness, stay sharp, so we can make the final selection going forward.
"For a couple of them, we really want to see how they progress. An example of that is Lee Nyugen, the high school kid. I really want to see how he progresses, day to day, against better players and bigger guys, where he's not going to be dominant and see how quickly he adjusts."
Nyugen is the 2004 Gatorade Player of the Year from Dallas who has committed to attend Indiana next fall. He might be a longshot to make the squad, but Greg Dalby (Notre Dame), Benny Feilhaber (UCLA), Charlie Davies (Boston College), Sasha Kljestan (Seton Hall), Nathan Sturgis (Clemson), Marvell Wynne (UCLA) and several other college players will surely be on the roster even if not all of them start.
As Schmid tells it, a more than a few starting spots are up for grabs.
He is hoping to integrate Tim Ward, Michael Bradley and Gaven (MetroStars), Chad Barrett and Will John (Fire), Danny Szetela (Crew), Hunter Freeman (Rapids) and Freddy Adu (D.C. United) with the game against Canada May 18 in Blaine, Minn., and a match to be confirmed May 25 either in Florida or at HDC.
"Middle of the back is still open," he says. "Spector we expect to start ...
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