The U.S. U-20 national team makes its 10th World Youth Championship appearance when the biennial tournament kicks off in the Netherlands this weekend. The Americans are coached by Sigi Schmid, who also coached the 1999 squad to a second-round appearance in Nigeria.
Freddy Adu, the youngest player on the U.S. squad at 16, is the only member of this year's team who also played two years ago, when the Americans, under coach Thomas Rongen, fell to Argentina in the quarterfinals in UAE, where American Eddie Johnson won the Golden Shoe as leading scorer with four goals.
U.S. GAMES ON TV:
Fox Soccer Channel
Saturday, June 11 USA-Argentina (live) 11:30 am ET; replay 8 pm ET.
Tuesday, June 14 USA-Germany (live) 2:30 pm ET; replay 11 pm ET.
Saturday, June 18 USA-Egypt (live) 7:30 am ET; replay noon ET and 4 pm ET.
Telefutura
Saturday, June 11 USA-Argentina (live) 11:30 a.m. ET
Galavision
Tuesday, June 14 USA-Germany (same-day delay) 7 pm ET/ PT.
Saturday, June 18 USA-Egypt (same-day delay) 5 p.m.
ET/PT.
Note: Dish Network and DirecTV provides Galavision's east feed to all subscribers.
U.S. FOES
Argentina (June 11). Winner of three of the last five championships, the Argentines are led by Lionel Messi, the 17-year-old playmaker who scored on his Spanish La Liga debut for Barcelona in May.
Germany (June 14). The nation's best player at that age group, forward Lucas Podolski, is foregoing the tournament to play for the full national team in the Confederations Cup. Only a handful of players on Coach Michael Skibbe's roster see Bundesliga action, Borussia Moenchengladbach midfielder Marcell Jansen's 18 appearances in 2004-05 being the most.
Egypt (June 18). The Junior Pharaohs have qualified for the past three final tournaments and finished third in 2001. They're led by Mahmoud "Shikabala" Abdelrazek, who recently signed with Greek club PAOK.
Note: the top two finishers in each group earn passage to the second round, as do the best four third-place finishers in the six groups.
U.S. ROSTER:
Goalkeepers — Justin Hughes (Univ. of North Carolina), Andrew Kartunen (Stanford Univ.), Quentin Westberg (Troyes/FRA).
Defenders — Greg Dalby (Notre Dame), Hunter Freeman (Colorado Rapids), Patrick Ianni (UCLA), Jonathan Spector (Manchester United/ENG), Nathan Sturgis (Clemson Univ.), Tim Ward (MetroStars), Marvell Wynne (UCLA).
Midfielders — Brad Evans (UC Irvine), Benny Feilhaber (UCLA), Eddie Gaven (MetroStars), Will John (Chicago Fire), Sacha Kljestan (Seton Hall Univ.), Danny Szetela (Columbus Crew).
Forwards — Freddy Adu (D.C. United), Chad Barrett (Chicago Fire), Lee Nguyen (Dallas Texans), Sammy Ochoa (UAG/MEX), Jacob Peterson (Indiana Univ.).
HISTORY:
2003 Champion: Brazil. U.S. finish: 5th.
2001 Champion: Argentina. U.S. finish: 13th.
1999 Champion: Spain. U.S. finish: 11th
1997 Champion: Argentina. U.S. finish: 15th.
1995 Champion: Argentina. U.S. finish: did not qualify.
1993 Champion: Brazil. U.S. finish: 8th.
1991 Champion: Portugal. U.S. finish: did not qualify.
1989 Champion: Portugal. U.S. finish: 4th.
1987 Champion: Yugoslavia. U.S. finish: 11th.
1985 Champion: Brazil. U.S. finish: did not qualify.
1983 Champion: Brazil. U.S. finish: 11th.
1981 Champion: West Germany. U.S. finish: 15th.