The players Olympic coach Bruce Arena is using have had their greatest moments in the stadiums of Charlottesville, Davidson and Richmond.
The competition is bringing 20-year-olds who are comfortable in Nou Camp, Maracana, San Siro and Parc des Princes.
That’s why Arena must choose goalkeeper Kasey Keller as one of the three wild-card players he is allowed to add to his under-23 squad. For U.S. standards, Arena has some decent players. But I have seen, read and heard enough about the competition to conclude that U.S. hopes of reaching the second round hinge on it having the tournament’s best goalkeeper.
Keller can be that.
Besides his obviously exceptional goalkeeping skills — I thought he was the most talented keeper at the 1995 Copa America — Keller’s pro experience — more than 200 games in four seasons for Millwall — surpasses all other U.S. players. This team of collegians needs a dose of maturity.
France’s forwards are leading scorers in the French First Division, Italy has players who started in European Championship qualifying for the senior team. Spain’s U-23 players score in UEFA Cup and European Cup play for Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Brazil’s U-23s — Roberto Carlos, Juninho et al. — have been beating senior national teams like Ghana, the United States, Canada and Honduras. We could go on.
Obviously, it would be nice to place three over-age players in field positions. But it would be smart to call up Keller.
by Soccer America senior editor Mike Woitalla