U.S.Soccer announced today that D.C. United players Bill Hamid and Perry Kitchenhave been named to the U.S. U-23 Men’s National Team Olympic QualifyingTournament roster. Kitchen has also been named as vice-captain of the squad, while former United player Freddy Adu will serve as the team's captain.
CONCACAFOlympic Qualifying begins on March 22, with Group A games being played at LPField in Nashville and Group B games at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.The USA was drawn into Group A with Canada, Cuba and El Salvador, while Group Bis composed of Mexico, Honduras, Panama and Trinidad & Tobago.
Hamidand Kitchen have been with the U-23’s since March 13. Prior to the most recentcall-up, both were a part of the U-23 Men’s National Team training camp in Dallas,Texas, which concluded with a match against Mexico on February 26. Both playersstarted in the United States’ 2-0 victory. Hamid and Kitchen were also startersduring D.C. United’s 1-0 loss against Sporting Kansas City in the 2012 MLSseason opener.
Hamidrecently earned his first cap with the full U.S. Men’s National Team when heearned a clean sheet in the team’s 1-0 win over Venezuela in Glendale, Ariz.United’s netminder was called up several times in 2011, serving as Tim Howard’sbackup in games against Mexico (Aug. 10), Costa Rica (Sept. 2), Belgium (Sept.6), Honduras (Oct. 8), Ecuador (Oct. 11), France (Nov. 11), and Slovenia (Nov.15). In each case, the D.C. UnitedAcademy product was on the 18-man roster, but did not see the field. Additionally,Hamidwas one of 28 players that Head Coach Caleb Porter called into a training campin Lakewood Ranch, Fla. that took place December 15-23.
In his second full seasonwith D.C. United, Hamid became the first-choice goalkeeper after recoveringfrom an offseason shoulder surgery. He went on to play 28 matches (28 starts)during the 2011 MLS campaign, putting together a record of 7-9-10 and compilingseven shutouts, while maintaining a goals-against average of 1.39.
Kitchen was recentlycalled-up by Porter for the U-23’s training camp last November in Germany. Theyoung midfielder featuredprominently for the U.S. U-20 Men’s National Team in 2011, starting threematches and registering 270 minutes of action to help the team reach theCONCACAF U-20 Championship Quarterfinals. Kitchen was also the captain of theU.S. U-17 National Team residency program and competed in the 2009 FIFA U-17World Cup in Nigeria.
Kitchenwas originally selected by D.C. United in the first round (third overall) ofthe 2011 MLS SuperDraft. He participated in 31 matches (30 starts) for Unitedduring his rookie campaign, registering one goal. Kitchen became the firstrookie in United’s 16-year history to lead the team in minutes played (2,726)during the 2011 season.
Kitchenpreviously played under Head Coach Porter at the University of Akron, where thetwo helped the Zips capture its first-ever NCAA National Championship in 2010.
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Roster By Position
GOALKEEPERS (2):Bill Hamid(D.C. United; Annandale, Va.),Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire; Lilburn, Ga.)
DEFENDERS (6):Perry Kitchen (D.C. United; Indianapolis, Ind.), IkeOpara (San Jose Earthquakes; Durham, N.C.), Kofi Sarkodie (Houston Dynamo;Huber Heights, Ohio), Zarek Valentin (Montreal Impact; Lancaster, Pa.), JorgeVillafaña (Chivas USA; Anaheim, Calif.), Sheanon Williams (Philadelphia Union; Boston, Mass.)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Freddy Adu(Philadelphia Union; Potomac, Md.), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana; Chula Vista,Calif.), Mix Diskerud (Gent; Oslo, Norway), Jared Jeffrey (Mainz; Richardson,Texas), Amobi Okugo (Philadelphia Union; Sacramento, Calif.), Michael Stephens(LA Galaxy; Naperville, Ill.)
FORWARDS (6): Juan Agudelo(New York Red Bulls; Barnegat, N.J.), Terrence Boyd (Borussia Dortmund; Berlin,Germany), Teal Bunbury (Sporting Kansas City; Prior Lake, Minn.), Joe Gyau(Hoffenheim; Silver Spring, Md.), Brek Shea (FC Dallas; Bryan, Texas), Tony Taylor (Estoril Praia, Jacksonville, Fla.)
