US men's soccer team confident about chances in Beijing

TIANJIN -- Missing out on an Olympics usually doesn't bode well for the next time around.

The United States Soccer Federation, however, would like to consider its absence from Athens as an aberration rather than an indication of the team's ability. Now, the men's squad is heading to China with a fair amount of confidence.

At the Beijing Games, USA will play with its first fully professional team.

"That's a plus. The team has pro experience across the board," USSF president Sunil Gulati said. "There are a lot of variables you can't control, such as individual performance. But expectations are higher. Overall, the level of play for U.S. teams has risen. For players and coaches, generally, no longer, it's not enough just to qualify. Everybody wants to do well."

Although the USA has never won an Olympic title, the Americans have played soccer in more Olympics (13) than any nation other than Italy (15), reaching the semifinals in 2000.

"I think the quality of players we have here, it's not a joke," said goalkeeper Brad Guzan, who plays for Chivas USA in Major League Soccer but is awaiting a transfer to Aston Villa in England. "The quality we have is up there. The team is going there with a purpose. We're going to bring something back."

Men's Olympic soccer is a tournament largely restricted to players under-23, although each team can supplement its roster with three overage players.

The U.S. men will take seven players from the team that reached the quarterfinals of last year's Under-20 World Cup in Canada. It's one of five teams that advanced out of the group stage that have made it to China.

Although it lacks the resume of defending champion Argentina and the buzz of a player such as Lionel Messi, the United States does have internationally recognized talent.

Jozy Altidore, 18, will be one of the main players on offense. He transferred in June from the New York Red Bulls to Villarreal, which finished second in the Spanish first division last season, for $10 million. And midfielder Freddy Adu, who skyrocketed to fame when he signed with D.C. United in MLS as a 14-year-old in 2003, last year transferred to 31-time Portuguese league champion, and recently moved to Monaco in the French first division.

Then there's 36-year-old Brian McBride, the national team's third all-time leading scorer who has played in three World Cups. Along with Guzan and New England Revolution defender Michael Parkhurst as the overage players, McBride joins the team after completing four seasons with Fulham in the English Premier League in May.

McBride brings experience from Germany, England and MLS -- and despite being nearly 12 years older than anyone else on the team, so far has avoided being called "Pops".

"Shhh. Don't give them any ideas," he said. "I have my iPod like the rest of them."

The Americans' biggest hurdle will be getting through the group stage.

The United States is in Group B -- considered by many the toughest of the four -- with the European under-21 champion Netherlands, 1996 Olympic champion Nigeria and Japan.

Coach Peter Nowak could have supplemented his team with even more firepower, such as all-time U.S. scoring leader Landon Donovan, but hinted that with the senior U.S. national team facing a World Cup qualifier on Aug. 20, other considerations had to be taken into account.

"We're all confident to a certain extent," Altidore said. "Not to the point where we think we're going to win gold, but every tournament you go into, you go into win. It's not going to be easy, it's going to tough."