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GERMANTOWN, Md. (Novermber
19, 2003) -- The U.S.
Under-23 Men's
National advanced to
the final round of
CONCACAF Olympic
Qualifying tonight by
virtue of a 4-0 win
and 10-0 aggregate
goal edge over the
visiting St. Kitts &
Nevis tonight in front
of 1,085 drenched fans
at the Maryland
SoccerPlex. While the
U.S. again dominated
its opponent, the
resilient Sugar Boyz
fought admirably and
didn't let the winter
cold and driving rain
affect their
performance.
The U.S. was led by
Richmond Kickers
forward David Testo,
who struck for goals
in the 3rd and 62nd
minutes and later
assisted on a Kyle
Martino (Columbus
Crew) goal to give the
squad a commanding 3-0
lead in the 87th
minute. With his
five-point
performance, the
A-League Rookie of the
Year equaled his
scoring total for the
entire year and
finishes 2003 as the
team's leading scorer
with four goals and
two assists for 10
points.
Second-half
substitute Eddie Gaven
(MetroStars) added an
insurance goal in the
94th minute,
converting a penalty
kick that he earned
after being brought
down in the box after
a dribbling run down
up the left endline.
As in Saturday's
6-0 win in the first
leg of the second
round, home-and-home
series, the U.S.
commanded play from
the outset, finishing
with a 29-4 shot
advantage and an 8-0
edge on corner
kicks.
Eight players with
ties to D.C., Maryland
or Virginia started
the game, with David
Stokes (D.C. United)
and Olney (Md.) native
Oguchi Onyewu (RAA
Louviere) in central
defense, Crofton (Md.)
native Kyle Beckerman,
Bobby Convey, Alecko
Eskandarian and Brian
Carroll (all three of
D.C. United) in
midfield, and Testo
(Richmond Kickers) up
top. D.C. United
goalkeeper Doug Warren
was called on to make
just two saves for the
shutout. Former Univ.
of Virginia standout
Martino came on for
Convey in the 46th
minute to make it nine
players of the 14 that
appeared tonight with
local ties.
The U.S. joins
Panama (who downed St.
Lucia 13-1 on
aggregate earlier this
month), Canada (who
defeated El Salvador
5-4 in penalty kicks
after a 1-0 win
tonight that made it a
1-1 aggregate score)
and the Honduras/Haiti
winner (Honduras led
1-0 after the first
leg) in Group A of the
eight-team, final
round of CONCACAF
Olympic Qualifying at
two venus in
Guadalajara, Mexico
from Feb. 2-12, 2004.
In Group B, the host
nation will welcome
Trinidad & Tobago,
Jamaica and the winner
of Costa Rica-Guyana
series (Costa Rica
leads 7-0; the second
leg will be played on
Sunday). The top two
teams from each group
advance to the
semifinals, where the
two winners will earn
CONCACAF's two berths
to Athens 2004.
The 16-team 2004
Olympic Soccer
competition will be
played across five
venues -- Athens,
Volos, Heraklio (on
the island of Crete),
Thessaloniki and
Patras -- from August
11-19.
The team is set to
re-group at The Home
Depot Center in
Carson, Calif., as
part of a week-long
camp from Dec. 12-19
that will run
concurrently with the
full U.S. Men's
National Team camp.
The team will then
start the new year
with an extended
training camp
alongside the U.S. MNT
in Carson in January
and be together for
most of the month
leading up to the
competition in
Mexico. |