[OLYMPIC COUNTDOWN] For what will be the most important test for players seeking to make their way on to the U.S. Olympic men's team, U-23 head coach Peter Nowak has named 22 players who will participate in the Festival Espoirs International in the region of Toulon, France, beginning May 23.

"This tournament will give us an opportunity to have a look at some
players we have had in previous camps, and also a look at the new
faces," said Nowak. "We don't want to be short-sighted with our
selection for the Olympics. We want a whole picture that includes a
variety of players, and to make sure we see every option before we make
final choices."

Only three players who took part in Olympic qualifying are on the roster: goalies Dominic Cervi and Chris Seitz, who shared duties between the pipes during Olympic qualifying, and right back Kamani Hill.

Hill, who spent the season on German club Wolfsburg's reserve team, is one of nine foreign-based players called up.

The most experienced player is Benny Feilhaber, whose goal won the 2007 Gold Cup for USA. Others include former U.S. U-20 Sammy Ochoa, who plays for Mexican club UAG's Second Division team, goalkeeper Quentin Westberg, a backup keeper on French Second Division club Troyes, Kyle Davies of English club Southampton's youth academy, Bryan Arguez, who debuted this winter for German club Hertha Berlin, Ellis McLoughlin, who joined Hertha this winter following his freshman year at the University of Washington, Lee Nguyen, who moved from Dutch champion PSV to Denmark's Randers FC in January, and Gabe Ferrari, a reserve at Italian Serie A club Sampdoria.

The Americans will arrive in Toulon on Thursday and will have five days of training before their opening match against Turkey on May 21. All 16 games of the tournament will be broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel,
including the USA's other Group B matches against the Ivory Coast on May 23 and Italy on May 25.

U.S. U-23 Roster:
GOALKEEPERS: Dominic Cervi (out of contract), Chris Seitz (Real
Salt Lake), Quentin Westberg (Troyes, France)
DEFENDERS: Tony Beltran (Real Salt Lake), Eric Brunner (out of
contract), Kyle Davies (Southampton, England), Michael Gavin (Los
Angeles Galaxy), Kamani Hill (Wolfsburg, Germany), Jonathan Leathers (Kansas City Wizards), Brek Shea (FC Dallas), Julian Valentin (Los Angeles Galaxy), Rob Valentino (New England Revolution), Blake Wagner (FC Dallas).
MIDFIELDERS: Bryan Arguez (Hertha Berlin, Germany), Corey Ashe (Houston Dynamo), Greg Dalby (Charleroi, Belgium), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County, England), Lee Nguyen (Randers, Denmark).
FORWARDS: Gabe Ferrari (Sampdoria, Italy), Bryan Jordan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Ellis McLoughlin (Hertha Berlin, Germany), Sammy Ochoa (UAG, Mexico).