Monday, March 30, 2009

Encore Performance

Five members of the U.S. squad for Wednesday's game are re-living the fond memories of their time here in Nashville in last year when the city hosted the semifinals and finals of the 2008 Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Freddy Adu, Jozy Altidore, Maurice Edu, Sacha Kljestan, and Jonathan Spector were part of the group that dispatched Canada 3-0 in the semifinals behind two goals from Adu and a late clincher from Kljestan. Led by U-23 head coach and current MNT assistant coach Peter Nowak, that victory punched their ticket to Beijing.

Adu finished as the leading scorer in the tournament with four goals, while Sacha Kljestan earned an honorable mention for the all tournament team. Fans will recall that Spector traveled thousands of miles from his club in England to play in the decisive semifinal match, then was quickly whisked away when the game was over to travel back across the pond.

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