You can't always get what you want.
And no one has to remind U.S. men's Olympic coach Peter Nowak of that when it came to selecting his three overage players for the U.S. men's Olympic team.
On paper, the three over-23 players would have been the best fit for the team was goalkeeper Tim Howard, defender Carlos Bocanegra and forward Landon Donovan.
But with all due respect to the Olympics, the World Cup team still gets preference over what is an under-23 tournament (plus three overage players a side).
So, that trio is expected to perform for the U.S. national team in a World Cup qualifier in Guatemala Aug. 20. If the USA advanced to the medal round in Beijing, those three would have been lost for the qualifier. While the U.S. isn't a favorite to get that far, you have to remember that the 2000 team played for a bronze medal (and lost) in Sydney.
Instead, when Nowak unveiled his 18-man roster Thursday, he named former Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan, New England Revolution defender Michael Parkhurst and former Columbus Crew and U.S. national team striker Brian McBride, who wants to play for the Chicago Fire, as the three overage players.
"We have three really great overage players who can contribute to this team," said Nowak, who is an assistant for the full national side under head coach Bob Bradley.
They're solid players, but except for a 36-year-old McBride (who could very well be the oldest U.S. male soccer player to perform in the Olympics), they don't have much international experience.
Nowak said that Donovan, a forward with the Los Angeles Galaxy, was considered for the Olympic team, but there were other priorities.
"We still feel very strongly about Landon's contributions to the senior team," he said. "As much as I would love to have him, needs are needs. World Cup qualifiers are not simple games. We still have both teams, very competitive teams, and we feel good about both teams' chances."
Nowak wouldn't blame CONCACAF for scheduling World Cup qualifying dates right smack in the middle of the Olympics.
"This is the best team that we could have selected and I feel very good about this group," he said. "This is our team for the games that we will play. Let's focus and concentrate on the games. Let's do the best we possibly can in order to accomplish the goals we want to accomplish. Let's not play the blame game right now. We just want to make sure that the teams that compete in the Olympic Games and the World Cup qualifiers are competitive teams."
Perhaps the biggest was the naming of Crew forward Robbie Rogers, who has scored five goals in 16 games.
"It's no secret that Robbie has [had] a great season ... and the whole team is playing very well," Nowak said. "In the last couple of months, Robbie started to play the game everybody loved to see him play. He's had a lot of very significant progress in the last six, seven months and this is good to see. He's healthy, he's fit, he's scoring goals and he's helping his team win. ... He fits the picture very well."
And so does Guzan, who will miss preseason training with his new English Premiership club (Aston Villa, who is seeking a work permit for him). Nowak said he felt Guzan was the best option.
"Brad knows the players very well," he said. "With the whole team spirit and team unity situation, Brad shows he has similar qualities to our younger players. He has played very good in competitive games vs. England and Spain. He is a good goalkeeper but also is someone who can be around those players and can feel like he has something to prove.
"As much as we love Aston Villa, there was a clear message from Brad that he wanted to play in this tournament. There will be enough time for Brad to establish himself as the first-string 'keeper with Aston Villa."
Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake), who helped backstop the U.S. in the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament, will back up Guzan.
Parkhurst, who is 24, is the oldest player of a backline that includes Michael Orozco (San Luis, Mexico), Nate Sturgis (Real Salt Lake), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC) and Patrick Ianni (Houston Dynamo).
Parkhurst, the 2007 MLS Defender of the Year, is the lynchpin of the New England backline, but has made only three international appearances.
"It is not necessarily about how many caps he has, but the experience he has," Nowak said. "From a personality standpoint, Michael is a good selection. He's an underrated defender. I think he does a great job with the Revolution. They've played big games in the past. My experience with him last year at the Gold Cup was very good, and that's why I took this route."
The midfield is easily the strongest and deepest platoon.
Freddy Adu (Benfica, Portugal), the team's qualifying MVP, is the attacking force and an extremely dangerous option on free kicks.
"Freddy is maturing in a very good way right now," Nowak said. "He did most of the work himself, and he started to see things during camps and progressed with his mentality and overall game. You can see his progress with the senior team games. I ... am pleased to see the progress."
Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA) and ex-Crew player Danny Szetela (Brescia, Italy) are other offensive options while Holland-based Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen, formerly with the MetroStars) and Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), who can play the backline as well, are the leading candidates in the defensive or holding roles. Stuart Holden (Houston) and Benny Feilhaber (Derby County, England) will be pushing the others for starting spots.
Up front, McBride probably will be joined by former Red Bulls forward Jozy Altidore (Villarreal, Spain) in the other starting spot, while Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF, Sweden) and Rogers are expected to come off the bench.
McBride, who had retired from international competition two years ago, played in three World Cups and is the only U.S. player to have scored in two. He is out of contract after helping Fulham avoid relegation from the English Premiership. "He's a great professional, a great guy to be around, brings in a lot of experience," Nowak said. "He's going to be very vital to our team. I'm really pleased and very thankful that he has considered to play with this team. I think for his career, these Olympic games would be the cherry on the cake."
McBride hasn't played a competitive match in two months, but Nowak said the team has a program for him and other European players to get back into the swing of things.
"We're going to have more personalized workouts," he said. "We have to make sure that the groups will work together at some point and will match fitness at some point -- to have both groups on the same page. ... We've already done our homework with that and know how to accommodate our players needs to get them ready for the Japan game."
The team will train in San Jose, Calif. prior to departing for Hong Kong July 25 and play in the ING Cup, facing Olympic participants Ivory Coast July 30 and Cameroon Aug. 2.
In Group B play, the U.S. will play Japan in Tianjin Aug. 7 against Japan, the Netherlands in Tianjin Aug. 10 and Nigeria in Beijing Aug. 13.
"It's no secret that the group we are playing is very difficult, probably one of the toughest groups in the whole tournament," Nowak said. "But if you all play the tournament like that, when it's the 16 best teams in the world, you never have an easy group."
"We are looking forward to this challenge and I feel very good about the group of players. During our qualifiers, they showed a lot of team unity and spirit, and that was a very important factor in qualifying for the Olympic Games."
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