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If the U.S. men's U-23 soccer team wants to get through the group stage of the 2008 Olympic soccer tournament, it will have to earn it.The U.S. team has been drawn into Group B with the Netherlands, Nigeria and Japan, which could prove to be a stiff challenge -- much stiffer than the competition facing heavyweights Brazil, Argentina and Italy in their groups. The Netherlands have a reputation for developing strong young players, and their team might be the odds-on favorite to win Group B. Nigeria, however, won the FIFA U-17 World Cup last year and is expected to field a strong side as well.
The women's soccer draw is a bit more favorable for the U.S. women's team, who were placed in Group C with Norway, Japan and New Zealand. The U.S. women defeated Norway 4-1 in the Bronze Medal game of the 2007 Women's World Cup, while Japan and New Zealand never made it out of the group stage in that competition. Plus, there are only three groups of four in the women's competition, and eight teams will advance to the quarterfinals. New U.S. coach Pia Sundhage couldn't have it much easier in the group stage.
U.S. men's coach Peter Nowak, however, faces a few challenges in advance of the Olympics. The first challenge is bringing in Michael Bradley, who's expected to be a hot commodity in the European transfer market after his 18-goal season (so far) for Heerenveen. Everton, Blackburn Rovers and Hamburg SV are expected to make offers, and those new clubs might not be so eager to release Bradley for Olympic competition, which stretches through August -- right when the European club season begins. Bradley's new club might "suggest" that he remain with the U.S. men's senior team, which has an World Cup qualifying match against Guatemala on August 20, a designated FIFA break in Europe.
That World Cup qualifier might prove tricky for Nowak to pull any other senior players off Bob Bradley's side. Fulham striker Brian McBride has been rumored to come out of international retirement for this Olympics, but that leaves two over-age spots still available. Who gets them? Does Nowak dip into MLS and pull players like Landon Donovan, Taylor Twellman or Brad Guzan? Does he look to Europe and take someone like Eddie Johnson, who could play up front with McBride or Jozy Altidore?
Perhaps it all depends on how seriously the U.S. wants to take this competition. Olympic men's soccer is not considered a major competition by most nations outside of South America. Does the U.S. Soccer Federation want to put more emphasis on Beijing, or on World Cup Qualifying? I suppose we'll find out soon enough when the final roster is announced.
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