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Schmid Will Travel With Familiar Faces

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

With all the wonders--and worries--of Nigeria awaiting him and his soccer team, Sigi Schmid on Friday named his 18-player U.S. roster for the FIFA World Youth Championship that begins April 3.

The UCLA coach chose nine California players, four of them Bruins--goalkeeper Nick Rimando of Montclair, defender Carlos Bocanegra of Alta Loma and midfielders Ryan Futagaki of Fountain Valley and Shaun Tsakiris of Saratoga.

“We picked a lot of guys from Southern California so we’d have guys who are used to warm weather,” Schmid joked.

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But heat is not the only worry. Several European clubs have been reluctant to release their young players for the 24-nation event, citing health and security concerns.

FIFA, world soccer’s ruling body, moved the 1995 World Youth Championship from Nigeria to Qatar because of an outbreak of meningitis in the west African nation. And FIFA gave Nigeria approval to host this tournament only six weeks ago, after earlier criticizing hotel and stadium facilities.

Schmid said U.S. Soccer has done all it can to make sure the American team is well cared for during the April 3-24 tournament.

“I was there for the draw and we visited the venues we’re going to be playing at and the hotels we’re going to be staying at,” he said.

“I feel confident there’s not going to be any problems of the nature that are being expressed.”

All the same, he said, the team is traveling with “a much bigger support staff” than U.S. squads usually travel with, including a team doctor, two trainers, a chef and a security liaison.

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On the field, however, the Americans will be on their own. In the first round, they play England on April 5, Japan on April 8 and Cameroon on April 11.

“Our goal is to go as far as we can,” Schmid said. “Once it becomes a knockout competition [in the round of 16], we think our chances are as good as anybody else’s.”

The U.S. has played in six World Youth Championships, its best finish a fourth in 1989 in Saudi Arabia.

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