U.S. SOCCER: U-23s head to Portugal for five games

The U.S. under-23 men's national team will play five games in Portugal Jan. 14-23.

The U.S. opens with three games in three consecutive days — Sporting Lisbon reserves Jan. 14, Benfica reserves Jan. 15 and Santarem District Jan. 16 — then take a four-day break before facing Russia's U-23s on Jan. 21 in Almeirim and Portugal's or Slovakia's U-23s on Jan. 23 in Abrantes to finish the five-game trip.

The U.S. roster features seven pros — six in MLS and Oguchi Onyewu at French club Metz. Six players recently have given up their collegiate eligibility to sign with MLS: Ricky Lewis (Clemson Univ.), David Logan Pause (Univ. of North Carolina), Alecko Eskandarian (Virginia), and Jason Thompson (Eastern Illinois Univ.). College seniors Doug Warren (Clemson Univ.), Scot Thompson (UCLA), Roger Levesque (Stanford Univ.) and David Testo (Univ. of North Carolina) are also expected to go high in the MLS SuperDraft.

The key test for the U-23s in 2003 is the Pan Am Games, which take place in the Dominican Republic from Aug. 1-17.

U.S. UNDER-23 ROSTER:

Goalkeepers — D.J. Countess (Dallas Burn), Doug Warren (Clemson Univ.).

Defenders — Jose Burciaga (K.C. Wizards), Kelly Gray (Chicago Fire), Ricky Lewis (Clemson Univ.), Oguchi Onyewu (Metz, France), Seth Stammler (Univ. of Maryland), David Stokes (Univ. of North Carolina), Scot Thompson (UCLA), Chris Wingert (St. John's Univ.).

Midfielders — Kyle Beckerman (Colorado Rapids), Brian Carroll (Wake Forest Univ.), Brad Davis (MetroStars), Adolfo Gregorio (UCLA), Logan Pause (Univ. of North Carolina), Seth Trembly (Colorado Rapids).

Forwards — Alecko Eskandarian (Virginia), Roger Levesque (Stanford Univ.), David Testo (Univ. of North Carolina), Jason Thompson (Eastern Illinois Univ.).