His career might be moving in fast forward these days, but Jozy Altidore isn't getting too ahead of himself as he and the United States under-23 national team prepare for the 2008 CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament.
The New York Red Bulls forward is on the cover of the FIFA '08 video game, scored a goal for the full national team against rival Mexico and has drawn interest from European clubs. But the 18-year-old is thinking of just one game.
"The only game we're thinking about is Cuba," Altidore said. "In these type of tournaments, it's important not to look past the first game."
Cuba is the opponent as the qualifying process begins Tuesday in Tampa for the USA. The ultimate goal is to be part of the Summer Games in Beijing, China this summer, but as the U.S. learned four years ago, getting out of CONCACAF isn't set in stone.
"Now that we've established ourselves as one of the best teams in CONCACAF, people think we should be considered a favorite, but that's not the case because anyone can beat anyone," Altidore said. "The pressure is there, but we're going to embrace it."
Four years ago, the U.S. failed to advance, losing 4-0 to Mexico in Mexico City. That failure, according to U-23 coach Peter Nowak, hasn't been discussed by his group during training camp.
"I'm not a guy who looks over my shoulder and I encourage the team not to look over their shoulders," Nowak said. "This is a completely different team, a completely different environment. We want to focus on what we can do on the field and present ourselves in the best way possible."
At that time, Nowak was the coach of D.C. United and he had a young phenom in his locker room by the name of Freddy Adu. Now Adu is playing for Benfica in Portugal and will be an integral part of the U-23 team.
Adu and Altidore formed a lethal partnership last summer, helping lead the United States to the quarterfinals of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup. Altidore scored four goals in five games in that tournament.
"He is a very talented player. He's technically gifted and he has good vision," Altidore said of Adu. "In the (U-20s) our relationship grew a lot. Playing with him has opened my eyes and made me a better player."
Adu and Altidore and two of eight players in the 24-man training camp who were part of that U-20 team that fell to Austria in the quarterfinals in Toronto last summer.
"If I'm part of the team, that's definitely going to be very motivating," Altidore said. "We left with a bad taste in our mouths after losing in Canada. We felt we should have done better. If I'm on the team and we qualify for the Olympics, it's going to be a different story. We want to show people that soccer continues to grow in this country."
On Saturday, Nowak will pick the 20 players who will compete in the qualifying process, which will see the U.S. play Cuba, Honduras and Panama at Raymond James Stadium over the course of five days next week.
While there's no doubt Adu and Altidore will be selected, there is some drama when it comes to the Jonathan Spector's possible addition. Reportedly, the U.S. Soccer Federation and West Ham struck a deal last month that Spector would be included in the final part of qualifications.
"I have no comment on that because it would be unfair to the 24 in camp to possibly mention names," Nowak said. "We still need a couple of days to evaluate our guys."
As for the possibility of playing in the Olympics this summer, it's something of a dream come true for Altidore, who has watched the Summer Games at home with his family.
"In America, the Olympics is basically the biggest sporting event, the World Cup is considered second," Altidore said. "It would definitely be a great privilege to be able to do that with my family able to watch me instead of us watching the athletes."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
