Indiana University Athletics
Hoosier Pair Named to World Youth Championship Roster
7/13/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
June 7, 2005
BLOOMINGTON, Ind.- A pair of Hoosiers were named to the United States Under-20 Men's National Team that will compete in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship, June 10-July 2, in Holland. Head coach Sigi Schmidt added junior forward Jacob Peterson and incoming freshman Lee Nguyen to the 21-player U.S. roster.
Along with the two IU standouts, the U20 roster for the championship includes: Freddy Adu (D.C. United (MLS), Chad Barrett (Chicago Fire (MLS), Greg Dalby (Notre Dame), Brad Evans (UC-Irvine), Benny Feilhaber (UCLA), Hunter Freeman (Colorado Rapids (MLS), Eddie Gaven (NY/NJ Metrostars (MLS), Justin Hughes (North Carolina), Patrick Ianni (UCLA), Will John (Chicago Fire (MLS), Andrew Kartunen (Stanford), Sacha Kljestan (Seton Hall), Sammy Ochoa (Tecos (Mexico), Jonathan Spector (Manchester United (English Premier League), Nathan Sturgis (Clemson), Danny Szetela (Columbus Crew (MLS), Tim Ward (NY/NJ Metrostars (MLS), Quentin Westberg (ESTAC Troyes (France) and Marvell Wynne (UCLA)
Peterson is one of 10 players from the collegiate ranks, while Nguyen is the lone high school player on the team. The team also includes 10 professionals from the U.S., Mexico, France and England. The U.S. is a part of Group D at the World Championships along with Argentina, Germany and Egypt. The U20s will face Argentina on June 11 at 10:30 a.m. CT. They will then face Germany on June 14 at 1:30 p.m. CT before closing out group play against Egypt at 6:30 a.m. CT on June 18. All three first-round games will be played at the 13,500-seat Arke Stadium in Enschede.
The opening three group games for the U.S. will also be televised on Fox Soccer Channel (FSC), Telefutura and Galavision. The games will be shown live and then again on replay on FSC. The Argentina game will be shown on FSC and Telefutura, while the Germany and Egypt matches will be on FSC and Galavision. The Germany game will be available on the West feed only. The FSC replays will be televised at 7 p.m. CT for the Argentina match on June 11, 10 p.m. CT on June 14 for Germany and 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. on June 18 against Egypt. Every U.S. match at the World Youth Championship can be followed live via ussoccer.com's MatchTracker, presented by Philips Electronics.
Peterson played on the CONCACAF Under-20 qualifying team that placed first in Group A at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., in January. The U.S. opened the tournament with a 6-1 thrashing of Trinidad & Tobago before collecting identical 2-0 shutouts against Panama and Costa Rica. The impressive performance marked the first time the U.S. U-20s went undefeated and finished in sole possession of first place in CONCACAF qualifying. Peterson scored in the 2-0 victory over Panama on Jan. 14.
In all, Peterson has played in eight games, making five starts for the U20 national team in 2005. He has registered a pair of goals, including the game winner in a 4-0 victory over Borussia M'gladbach on April 19. In 2005 international play, the first team All-Big Ten selection appeared in four matches with two starts. For his career, Peterson has seven career international caps with the U20s and two goals.
Nguyen played in nine matches, while making five starts for the U-20 national team this year. He scored two goals with one assist. The National Gatorade Boys Soccer Player of the Year made first international appearance against Canada on May 18 and helped the US to a 2-1 victory, including drawing a penalty kick, which was converted by Freddie Adu. In 2005, Nguyen has started four matches for the U18 national tea, scoring four goals and assisting on another.
The 24-team field at the FIFA World Youth Championship is divided into six groups of four, with the top-two teams from each group and the top-four (of six) third-place teams advancing to the Round of 16. The 52-match tournament will take place at six venues in Holland with games in Doetinchem, Emmen, Enschede, Kerkrade, Tilburg and Utrecht.
At the most recent World Youth Championship in the United Arab Emirates in 2003, the U.S. team won its group for the first time ever and made a run to the quarterfinals before losing 2-1 to Argentina in overtime. A pair of former Hoosiers, Drew Moor and Ned Grabavoy, were members of the 2003 squad. After helping the U.S. to the quarterfinals, the duo returned hours prior to helping Indiana defeat St. John's, 2-1, in the 2003 NCAA National Championship game.
Check back with IUHOOSIERS.com for updates on the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship.
