MLS New York Red Bulls

MetroStars Eddie Gaven Becomes Youngest Player Ever to Appear on a U.S. Olympic Qualifying Team

Published on January 22, 2004 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
New York Red Bulls News Release


SECAUCUS, NJ (Thursday, January 22, 2004) - U.S. Soccer announced today that MetroStars 17 year-old midfielder Eddie Gaven has been named to the final United States Under-23 roster that will participate in Olympic Qualifying. U-23 Head Coach Glenn "Mooch" Myernick and the 22-player roster that will travel down to Guadalajara, Mexico, this afternoon in advance of the 2004 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament from Feb. 2-12. The team will train for seven days before Myernick must cut down the roster to 20 players by the Jan. 31 deadline imposed by CONCACAF.

At 17 years and 89 days, Gaven becomes the youngest player ever to appear on a U.S. Olympic Qualifying Team, passing fellow New Jersey native Claudio Reyna. Reyna was 17 years and 336 days when he made his appearance in the tournament. Third on the list is current U.S. National Team and Chicago Fire star DaMarcus Beasley, who appeared at 17 years and 362 days.

Gaven, who will be making his fourth appearance with the U-23's since the end of the 2003 MLS season, notched a goal in the team's 10-0 aggregate win over St. Kitts & Nevis in CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying action last November.

The young Metro also appeared for the U.S. U-17 team, last August in the FIFA U-17 World Championship. The U.S. advanced to the quarterfinals of the U-17 tournament before falling to eventual champion Brazil.

The U.S. U-23s will first face Panama on Tuesday, Feb. 3, followed by matches against Canada on Thursday, Feb. 5 and Honduras on Saturday, Feb. 7. All three U.S. opening round matches in Group A will be played at the 10,000-seat Estadio Tres de Marzo (in the Zapopan area of Guadalajara) and kickoff at 8 p.m. (local/CT).

The tournament opens on Feb. 2 with Group B action featuring Costa Rica, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and the host nation at Estadio Jalisco. The top two teams from each group will meet in the single-elimination semifinals on Tuesday, Feb. 10 at Estadio Jalisco, with the winner of Group A meeting the second-place team from Group B, and the winner of Group B meeting the second-place team from Group A. The two semi-final winners will earn automatic berths to Athens 2004 and meet in the final on Feb. 12.

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