Sean Johnson named to upcoming US U-23 Camp

U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team head coach Caleb Porter has named his 23-player roster for a 10-day training camp in Frisco, Texas. The roster includes the Chicago Fire's Sean Johnson so this means Johnson will be out between February 19 to March 1 and more.

The only other goalkeeper in camp will be D.C. United's Bill Hamid. Both played for the U.S. Men's National Team at the start of the year. Johnson earned his second international cap when he played in the second half of a 1-0 win against Panama on Jan. 25 in Panama City.

The U.S. U-23s will hold scrimmages against FC Dallas on Wed., Feb. 22, the North American Soccer League's new franchise, the San Antonio Scorpions, on Friday, Feb. 24 and Mexico’s U-23 National Team on Wed., Feb. 29.

CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying begins on March 22, with Group A games being played at LP Field 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 B is composed of Mexico, Honduras, Panama and Trinidad & Tobago.The semifinal and final matches will be played at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan., on March 31 and April 2, respectively.

With the qualifying games being so close, this puts Sean Johnson at a real advantage over Philadelphia Union's goalkeeper Zac MacMath. Hamid is considered a lock to make the Olympic team while Johnson and MacMath have been battling each other for the spot behind him. One side of me wants to see Sean Johnson get all of the opportunities he is worthy of but the other side wants to see him in training and playing games with the Chicago Fire. Johnson will miss preseason training for about two weeks. He will miss some games at the beginning of the season and in the middle of the season if the U.S. plays well and he keeps getting called up. Veteran goalkeeper Jay Nolly will have to step into the starting role for Chicago if all this happens.

Full roster and staff for the camp are after the break.

U.S. U-23 MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM ROSTER

Domestic Training Camp - Frisco, Texas

Feb. 19-March 1

Roster By Position - Detailed Roster

GOALKEEPERS (2): Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire)

DEFENDERS (7): Greg Garza (Club Tijuana), Perry Kitchen (D.C. United), Alfredo Morales (Hertha Berlin), Ike Opara (San Jose Earthquakes), Kofi Sarkodie (Houston Dynamo), Zarek Valentin (Montreal Impact), Jorge Villafaña (Chivas USA)

MIDFIELDERS (6): Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), Mix Diskerud (Gent), Dilly Duka (Columbus Crew), Jared Jeffrey (Mainz), Amobi Okugo (Philadelphia Union), Michael Stephens (LA Galaxy)

FORWARDS (8): Freddy Adu (Philadelphia Union), Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls), Terrence Boyd (Borussia Dortmund), Teal Bunbury (Sporting Kansas City), Joe Gyau (Hoffenheim), Jack McInerney (Philadelphia Union), Brek Shea (FC Dallas), Tony Taylor (Estoril Praia)

National Team Staff

Head Coach: Caleb Porter (Akron, Ohio)

Assistant Coach: Claudio Reyna (Bedford Corners, N.Y.)

Assistant Coach: John Trask (Shorewood Hills, Wis.)

Goalkeeper Coach: Eric Yamamoto (Los Gatos, Calif.)

Fitness Coach: Randy Rocha (Brookeville, Md.)

Team Coordinator: Jon Fleishman (Long Beach, Calif.)

Equipment Coordinator: Jason Peters (St. Petersburg, Fla.)

Athletic Trainer: Josh Beaumont (Alhambra, Calif.)

Massage Therapist: Mark Higgins (Tinley Park, Ill.)

Videographer: Troy Bardy (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Press Officer: Mark Liskevych (Chicago)