Five Union players to join U-23 USMNT

CHICAGO (January 6, 2012) – Freddy Adu, Zac MacMath, Jack McInerney, Amobi Okugo and Sheanon Williams will again join the U-23 U.S. Men’s National Team as they train for CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying, U.S. Soccer announced today.  The two-part camp will take place from Jan. 8-25 in Carson, Calif., and San Jose, Costa Rica. The first 11 days of camp will be spent at The Home Depot Center before the team travels to Costa Rica on January 18 to play matches against the Saprissa Reserves on Saturday, Jan. 21, and Alajuela on Tuesday, Jan. 24.

The Union represent five of the 11 Major League Soccer players on the 22-man training camp roster. McInerney, Okugo and Williams make their third appearance with the U-23’s this offseason, while Adu and MacMath are on their second tour with the squad.

The January camp marks the third gathering of this group as the team prepares for the 2012 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament in March.  The first camp was held at the Sportschule Wedau in Germany in early November, while the most recent camp took place in Lakewood Ranch, Florida in December. 

The U.S. U-23 MNT was drawn into Group A of the 2012 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament and will face Canada, Cuba and El Salvador. The teams open group play from March 22-26 at LP Field in Nashville. The two finalists from the tournament qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games in London this summer.

Roster By Position:

GOALKEEPERS (2): David Bingham (San Jose Earthquakes), Zac MacMath (Philadelphia Union)

DEFENDERS (7): Gale Agbossoumonde (G.D. Estoril Praia), Sebastien Ibeagha (Duke), Kofi Sarkodie (Houston Dynamo), Zarek Valentin (Montreal Impact), Jorge Villafaña (Chivas USA), Andrew Wenger (Duke), Sheanon Williams (Philadelphia Union)

MIDFIELDERS (9): Isaac Acuña (Mérida; Calexico), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), Mikkel Diskerud (Stabæk), Dilly Duka (Columbus Crew), Jared Jeffrey (Mainz, Germany), Sebastian Lletget (West Ham United F.C.), Amobi Okugo (Philadelphia Union), Kelyn Rowe (UCLA), Michael Stephens (LA Galaxy)

FORWARDS (4): Freddy Adu (Philadelphia Union), Josh Gatt (Molde, Norway), Jack McInerney (Philadelphia Union), Tony Taylor (Atletico Clube de Portugal)