Champs from '05 make U.S. soccer squad

When they played soccer at this university, Chris Seitz, Maurice Edu and Robbie Rogers all talked to head coach Sasho Cirovski about their future goals. One goal was to win the national championship. Another was to play at the Olympics.

Check. And soon to be check.

The trio of former Terrapins - who in 2005 helped win the first national title in school history since 1968 - will play for the U.S. National Team in Beijing for the 2008 Olympic Games next month.

"It's a great honor, you know. Growing up as a kid, every American kid, boy or girl looked at the Olympics as a great event," Seitz said.

U.S. Soccer announced its 18-man roster July 17. Players were selected from a vast pool of talent - a pool Rogers wasn't even a part of initially.

Rogers was cut after he missed part of the qualifying process due to injury. He visited his old Terps teammates for training in Florida, talked to his coach and later returned to the field with the MLS's Columbus Crew.

He was so good with the Crew (Rogers would have been the youngest MLS All-Star if he hadn't had to miss the game for Olympic training) U.S. head coach Peter Nowak decided to grant him a roster spot with the squad.

"I think in the last couple of months, Robbie started to play the game everybody loved to see him play," Nowak said. "He's had a lot of very significant progress in the last six, seven months and this is good to see. He's healthy, he's fit, he's scoring goals, and he's helping his team win. If I see Robbie Rogers playing as he is now, I think he fits the picture very well."

Edu and Seitz were a bit less of a surprise.

After being selected first overall in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft by Toronto FC, Edu won last season's Gatorade Rookie of the Year award. He's also made significant contributions to the U.S. National Team, logging key minutes in international play.

Seitz, who plays for the MLS Real Salt Lake, was solid in net for the U.S. U-20 team last year and was the logical choice to back up 2007 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, Brad Guzan.

"They're bringing in a versatile keeper, that's for sure," Seitz said of Guzan. "At the same time, they're not going to just hand him the job. It's my job to make it a competition. I'm going to train hard and hopefully help make him the best he can be as well."

The majority of Olympic players must be less than 23 years old, but each team can choose three players over that age limit. The three youngsters who shined at Ludwig Field before moving on to the pros may be part of a new wave of players who can bring the U.S. into soccer prominence, not only during the Olympics, but also during the 2010 World Cup.

"I'm extremely happy for them," Cirovski said. "They're all great young men, and they all have the ability to achieve some great accomplishments."

Of course, without Cirovski's help, these players might not be where they are today as Olympic medal hopefuls.

"I got so much better from my freshman year to when I left," Edu said last month. "Maryland is the closest to being professional as you're going to find in college soccer."

"I think that [the 2005 national championship season] definitely got me prepared for where I am now," Seitz said. The former teammates meet up for dinner when their teams play in each other's cities and still talk to one another from long-distance. But Seitz is looking forward to being teammates with them once again and hopes the result will be the same as the first year they all took the field together.

"Our objective, our goal," the goalkeeper said, "is to win a medal."

The U.S. is in Group B where they will begin play against Japan on Aug. 7.

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