SAN JOSE, Calif. – San Jose Earthquakes defender Ike Opara has been selected to join the U.S. Olympic squad in camp from Feb. 19-29 as head coach Caleb Porter works to finalize a roster ahead of CONCACAF qualifying for the 2012 Summer Games.
The camp culminates with a friendly against Olympic hopefuls from Mexico on Feb. 29 at FC Dallas Stadium. The match kicks off at 7 p.m. PT and will be broadcast live on Galavision. The Americans will also scrimmage against FC Dallas and the San Antonio Scorpions on Feb. 22 and Feb. 24, respectively.
“I think Mexico is going to be about as close to a qualifying atmosphere as we can possibly get,” Porter said. “We’re going to have, for the most part, our entire group together for the first time.”
Opara made 19 appearances during his first two years with the Earthquakes. He scored three goals in 11 games in 2010, his first season in San Jose. The athletic center back also scored a 120th-minute game winner against the Portland Timbers in US Open Cup qualifying last year.
The Generation adidas product was selected No. 3 overall by San Jose in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft. He represented the United States at the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt, starting each of the Americans’ three matches. The Feb. 29 match against Mexico would be Opara’s first appearance for the U.S. at the U-23 level.
“The No. 1 priority in this camp is to see our guys in games and to build a little bit of that rhythm by playing multiple games in a short amount of time,” Porter said. “Everything is geared toward the Mexico game, but we want to get a couple of games early in the week to get guys minutes so we can look at everybody to help with those final roster decisions leading into qualifying.”
The U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team was drawn into Group A of the 2012 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament and will face Canada, Cuba and El Salvador. The teams will play their group matches from March 22-26 at LP Field in Nashville. The two finalists from the tournament will qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games in London next summer.
ROSTER BY POSITION
GOALKEEPERS (2): Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire)
DEFENDERS (7): Greg Garza (Club Tijuana), Perry Kitchen (D.C. United), Alfredo Morales (Hertha Berlin), Ike Opara (San Jose Earthquakes), Kofi Sarkodie (Houston Dynamo), Zarek Valentin (Montreal Impact), Jorge Villafaña (Chivas USA)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), Mix Diskerud (Gent), Dilly Duka (Columbus Crew), Jared Jeffrey (Mainz), Amobi Okugo (Philadelphia Union), Michael Stephens (LA Galaxy)
FORWARDS (8): Freddy Adu (Philadelphia Union), Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls), Terrence Boyd (Borussia Dortmund), Teal Bunbury (Sporting Kansas City), Joe Gyau (Hoffenheim), Jack McInerney (Philadelphia Union), Brek Shea (FC Dallas), Tony Taylor (Estoril Praia)
Coach: Caleb Porter
