Former And Current Broncos Making A Splash On International Stage

Former And Current Broncos Making A Splash On International Stage

Jan. 16, 2007

Santa Clara, Calif. - The Santa Clara men's and women's soccer programs have a number of alumni and current student athletes making headlines for a variety of United States national teams from the Under-18 level to the senior national team. Overall, nine current or former Broncos have key roles on their respective national team. For the men, Joe Cannon, Amaechi Igwe, Anthony Chimienti and Stephen McCarthy have all been involved with the national team program in recent months, while for the women, Jordan Angeli, Marian Dalmy, Amanda Poach, Leslie Osborne, Megan Kakadelas and Aly Wagner are making an impact.

On the men's side, Joe Cannon '97 has been called into the senior national team camp taking place right now in Carson, Calif. Cannon, who has made two appearances with the national team in his career, is one of four goalkeepers in the training camp under new U.S. national team head coach Bob Bradley. Cannon was recently traded from the Colorado Rapids to the Los Angeles Galaxy. The national team plays Denmark on Jan. 20 at The Home Depot Center in Carson and then takes on Mexico on Feb. 7 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

At the youth level, Amaechi Igwe, who was selected 12th overall in the MLS SuperDraft last week, is part of the Under-20 national team that is attempting to qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which takes place in Canada this summer. Igwe and U.S. play Haiti, Guatemala and Panama in qualifying this week and all three games will be broadcast on GolTV. The U.S. plays Haiti at 3:30 p.m. PT on Jan. 17, Guatemala at 3:30 p.m. PT on Jan. 19 and Panama at 4:00 p.m. PT on Jan. 21. Igwe played six times for the U-20's in 2006.

McCarthy has played for both the U-20 and U-18 National Team's recently.


Current Bronco midfielder Stephen McCarthy appeared for the U-20's in October in a closed-door scrimmage against Haiti along with Igwe. Then in early January, he was called into training camp with the U-18 team, for whom Bronco assistant coach Eric Yamamoto serves as an assistant coach. The training camp took place in Carson during the first week of January and the U-18's ended the camp with a 3-1 win over Inter-America S.L. on Jan. 6 in their only game.

2001 graduate Anthony Chimienti had some success on the beach in 2006 as he played for the United States in the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup from Nov. 3-7. The U.S. went 1-2 in three games, defeating Poland 4-2 and losing to Japan and Brazil 8-4 and 10-6 respectively. Chimienti netted a pair of goals to lead the U.S. to a win over Poland and also scored in the loss to Japan. The Americans did not advance from the group stage.

For the women, Aly Wagner '02 and Leslie Osborne '04 spent 2006 as key components of the U.S. Women's national team. Wagner played 21 out of the team's 22 games, while Osborne appeared in 19 matches. Osborne scored a goal in the team's 2-1 overtime win over Canada that clinched the American's passage to the World Cup this year. The World Cup is scheduled for Sept. 10-30 in China.

Osborne was recently named to the team's roster for the Four Nations Cup that will be played from Jan. 26-30 in China. The tournament features the United States, China, England and Germany. All the matches will be played at Guangdong Olympic Stadium in Guangzhou. Megan Kakadelas '04 was in training camp with senior national team in Carson but did not make the final roster for the Four Nations Cup.

At the youth national team level, Santa Clara junior Jordan Angeli and sophomore Amanda Poach continue to make an impact for the U.S. The pair, who played in the FIFA Women's Under-20 World Cup in Russia in August and September, has been named to the roster for the Under-21 national team training camp roster. Senior Marian Dalmy also earned a spot on the roster after an outstanding final season that saw her earn WCC Player of the Year honors.

The U-21 training camp runs from Jan. 13-20 at The Home Depot Center in Carson. The team will attempt to win the Nordic Cup for the eighth time in nine years this summer.

Angeli and Poach helped the U-20 team reach the semifinals of the U-20 World Cup last summer with Poach earning a spot on the FIFA U-20 World Cup All-Star Team. Poach was a finalist for the U.S. Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year award.

To follow all the current and former Broncos' activity with the national teams, visit usssoccer.com.