July 25, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - After qualifying for the 2008 FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup, UCF head coach Amanda Cromwell rejoins the United States team and its coaching staff this weekend. The Red, White and Blue will train in New Jersey before heading to London on Monday where it will practice and also take on Chelsea FC and Arsenal FC.
Cromwell and the U.S. posted four-straight shutouts en route to the championship match of the CONCACAF qualifications in June in Mexico. Even though they lost to Canada, 1-0, the Americans still secured a spot in the World Cup, which is scheduled to begin in late November in Chile.
The trip to England will be another lengthy trip for Cromwell. She previously traveled to Los Angeles and South Carolina for training camps, then headed to Utah before visiting Mexico for the qualification round. Cromwell will help head coach Tony DiCicco put together the final roster for when the U.S. invades South America later this year.
"We started with 28 players in Los Angeles and then we brought 24 to Clemson, South Carolina," said Cromwell, who played for the U.S. National Team from 1991-98. "When we went to Park City, Utah, we had 23 players and from there we took 20 to Mexico. There were three kids that when we flew from Park City to Mexico, they flew out to go home. That's a tough environment. As coaches there is such a fine line between these players. We know all of those players could have helped us one way or the other.
"The camp we will have in New Jersey will be back up to 28 again. We will bring some new players in that I have not seen and there will be some who have a shot that didn't make the roster in the spring. So we will change our roster again before the World Cup."
With many years of experience in the U.S. program, Cromwell knows what to look for when determining what this year's final roster should look like.
"I think all of our teams, no matter what age group, are all very athletic," said Cromwell. "We are one of the fastest and most athletic countries in soccer. We always bring the speed component. Tony likes to play possession style, get our outside backs going forward on the attack. We've been playing a 4-4-3 and that could change, but we have very skillful midfielders who can hit shots from distance. Our forwards are very dynamic and great dribblers while the center backs are aggressive and communicate well. The style in the end depends on the final players we pick, but it's a very attacking-minded possession-style team."
Along with the United States, Cromwell thinks that the favorites for the 2008 World Cup might be Germany, Korea, Brazil and Canada. However, the draws for the event have not yet been released.
To check out more on United States soccer and the under-20 team, head to www.ussoccer.com.
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