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Wednesday, August 30
Brown was expected to start
Associated Press
CHICAGO -- Adin Brown, projected as the starting goalkeeper
for the U.S. Olympic soccer team, was dropped from the roster
Tuesday due to leg injuries, a move that could lead to Brad Friedel
going to the Sydney Games.
Brown, 22, was placed on injured reserve Tuesday by the Colorado
Rapids of Major League Soccer, retroactive to Aug. 24. He sustained
injuries to a hip flexor and quadriceps during an Aug. 23 practice,
as he was still recovering from a quadriceps injury sustained about
a month earlier.
Brown is expected to miss the Rapids' final game of the regular
season, Sept. 8 at home against the Los Angeles Galaxy.
"I think it's the dream of many young kids to play in the
Olympics, and to be that close and then have it taken away from you
is tough. There's no way of sugar-coating it," Brown said. "I
just need to keep working hard and maybe by the next Olympics, I
can put myself in position to be chosen."
Friedel, the U.S. starter during the 1992 Barcelona Olympics,
would become one of the three "wild-card" players over the age
limit of 23 if midfielder Chris Armas is unable to go to Australia.
Armas, a starter for the Chicago Fire, injured a knee Aug. 16
playing for the United States in a 7-0 win over Barbados in a World
Cup qualifier and isn't on the roster for Sunday's qualifier
against Guatemala at Washington. A decision on his Olympic status
is expected Wednesday or Thursday.
Friedel, who started against Barbados, is the No. 2 goalkeeper
on the national team behind Kasey Keller, one of the three
wild-card players the Americans picked for the 1996 Atlanta
Olympics.
Friedel is with Liverpool in England's Premier League but hasn't
played much in the past year. He started against Barbados, while
Keller helped his Spanish League team, Rayo Vallecano, qualify for
the UEFA Cup.
While women's soccer at the Olympics is open to national teams,
FIFA, soccer's governing body, limits the men's tournament to
under-23 teams so it won't compete for attention with the World Cup.
FIFA, under pressure from the International Olympic Committee,
allowed the three wild cards starting with the Atlanta Games. D.C.
United defender Jeff Agoos and Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Frankie
Hejduk are the two other U.S. wild cards.
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