OLYMPIC SPORT PREVIEW: U.S. MEN'S SOCCER HOPES DIM.Byline: Lee Barnathan Staff Writer For all the strides the men's soccer program has made over the years - from never qualifying for the World Cup to regularly qualifying and hosting and reaching the second round in 1994 - the Olympics remain a shortcoming short·com·ing n. A deficiency; a flaw. shortcoming Noun a fault or weakness Noun 1. . In its history, the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. has qualified for 12 previous Games since 1924 (the 1980 team didn't participate). In 1924, the U.S. won its first match, a preliminary-round 1-0 victory over Estonia, but it lost in the first round. It didn't win another match until 1984 and is 4-12-6 in Olympic history. To date, no Olympic team has reached the second round. That is the 2000 team's stated goal. It isn't likely to happen. Although the team has talent, it's also the youngest American Olympic team and it has been drawn into a challenging group. To reach the second round, the U.S. will have to beat Kuwait, which it did in the 1992 Barcelona Games, and beat either the Czech Republic Czech Republic, Czech Česká Republika (2005 est. pop. 10,241,000), republic, 29,677 sq mi (78,864 sq km), central Europe. It is bordered by Slovakia on the east, Austria on the south, Germany on the west, and Poland on the north. or Cameroon, which fields two of the strongest under-23 teams in the world (the Olympics serves as the under-23 world championships). While the American women have had Olympic success, the men's lack of it isn't all the Americans' fault. True, the U.S. has been slower to develop its youth programs than the world's powers, but FIFA FIFA International Association Football Federation [French Fédération Internationale de Football Association] FIFA n abbr (= Fédération Internationale de Football Association) → FIFA f , the sport's governing body Noun 1. governing body - the persons (or committees or departments etc.) who make up a body for the purpose of administering something; "he claims that the present administration is corrupt"; "the governance of an association is responsible to its members"; "he , refuses to let national-team players compete in the Olympics, fearing it would negatively affect the World Cup. As a compromise, the three overage Overage Apples mainly to convertible securities. Difference between how much common stock one party must sell and the other wishes to buy for the same amount of convertible in a swap. players were allowed starting with the 1996 Games. Things aren't going as planned for the U.S., however. Listen to Olympic coach Clive Charles. On Aug. 15, when he announced the 18-man team, he said, ``I really feel like we've got the best team possible heading over to the Olympics.'' Fifteen days later, Charles wasn't so confident after losing projected starting goalkeeper Adin Brown to strained quadriceps and starting midfielder Chris Armas - one of the three allowed overage players - to a medial collateral ligament The medial collateral ligament or MCL (or tibial collateral ligament) is one of the four major ligaments of the knee. It is on the medial or inner side of the joint. sprain sprain, stretching or wrenching of the ligaments and tendons of a joint, often with rupture of the tissues but without dislocation. Sprains occur most commonly at the ankle, knee, or wrist joints, causing pain, swelling, and difficulty in moving the involved joint. suffered during the recent World Cup qualifier in Barbados. National team goalie Brad Friedel, another overage player, replaces Brown and will start in goal, and UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX graduate Sasha Victorine, an Olympic alternate, will take over for Armas. ``Obviously, I'm very disappointed that Chris and Adin won't be joining us in Sydney,'' Charles said. ``I'm sorry for them and I'm sorry for us.'' On Sept. 1, Charles clarified his statements: ``I'm happy with the fact we have a world-class goalkeeper going with us. Sasha Victorine has been part of the group for a couple of years. We never had Chris Armas. It's not like the team qualified with him. ``I want the guys to play well. If we play the best we can and don't go through, there's no disappointment because better teams got through. I'm confident if the performance is good, the results will take care of themselves.'' Still, the stated goal hasn't changed, despite roster moves 14 days from the Sept. 13 opening match against the Czechs (soccer begins two days before the opening ceremonies). So it will be up to the likes of MLS Cup '99 MVP (Multimedia Video Processor) A high-speed DSP chip from Texas Instruments, introduced in 1994. Officially introduced as the TMS320C80, it combines RISC technology with the functionality of four DSPs on one chip. Ben Olsen, 1998 Chevrolet Male Youth Athlete of the Year Athlete of the Year
There's also 18-year-old Landon Donovan, who has scored 35 goals and has 16 assists in 41 international under-17 matches; and forward Conor Casey, whom Charles coaches at the University of Portland The University of Portland (UP) is a private Catholic university located in Portland, Oregon. It is specifically affiliated with the Congregation of Holy Cross and is the sister school of the University of Notre Dame. Founded in 1901, UP has a student body of about 3,200 students. . Casey has six goals and four assists in 12 under-23 matches. MEN'S SOCCER Competition dates: Sept. 13-14, 16-17, 19-20, 23-24, 26, 28-30 Teams: 16 teams History: In 1908, soccer was the first team sport added to the Games after successful exhibitions in 1900 and 1904. The U.S. first qualified in 1924 and has competed in each Olympics since 1984. Favorites: Defending World Cup champion France didn't qualify, leaving some usual suspects - Italy and Brazil - plus Spain and defending champion Nigeria, plus dark horses Japan, Cameroon and the Czech Republic, the latter two of which are in the U.S.' group. How U.S. will fare: Chances are, the U.S. again won't escape pool play, continuing a tradition of never reaching the second round. Did you know? Despite hosting the 1932 Olympics, the U.S. didn't qualify. Soccer wasn't played in those Games because officials decided there weren't satisfactory fields available. CAPTION(S): box Box: MEN'S SOCCER (See text) |
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