Last week, the US U23 team qualified for the Beijing Olympics by defeating Canada at the semi-final stage. The 3-0 victory over their northern neighbors was the only convincing performance in a tournament that saw the US tie Cuba 1-1, beat Honduras and Panama 1-0, and lose to Honduras the second time around in the final 1-0.

Did the Fire's Chad Barrett do enough in the qualifiers to earn a spot for the Beijing Olympic team?

Piotr Nowak accomplished his goal of guiding the team to the Olympics but deep down he can’t be too pleased with the overall performance. Most of the blame was directed toward the strikers on the squad for not getting goals. Nowak used four different strikers during the competition: Jozy Altidore, Robbie Findley, Charlie Davies and Chad Barrett. Nowak preferred to play with one up front with Freddy Adu play behind the main striker. Throughout the tournament none of the four strikers notched a goal. Freddy had four, while Eddie Gaven and Sacha Kljestan both scored once.

Chad Barrett played in three of the five games during the tournament, starting twice and coming on as a sub in the first game against Cuba. Barrett’s performances in the three games were much better than reported in the post-game match reports. He held the ball up well and was a good link between midfield and attack. He was also useful when he drifted out wide, providing some very good crosses that should have resulted in goals. In the final against Honduras he served a perfect ball in to Findley, who missed with a header when it was easier to score.

When comparing him to the other forwards, his performances put him in a close second behind Jozy. Altidore is widely considered to be the best young American forward at the moment and nobody would argue that he should be the starting striker in the meaningful games. However, Jozy looked disinterested during much of the time he was on the field, especially in the first two games against Cuba and Panama. Charlie Davies was by far the worst of the four. It would be a major surprise if he was selected in the final Olympic squad. Davies spent most of his playing time rolling on the floor looking for free kicks and penalties. When he finally won a penalty he blasted it wide. His only positive action was to win the penalty in the last minute of the final group game against Honduras, converted by Eddie Gaven.

Throughout the whole tournament, the USA’s best striker partnership came in the final when Barrett and Findley played together up front. Both linked well with each other and with the midfield, leading to many chances that were not converted.

All Fire fans must be pleased by what they saw from Barrett during the tournament and will look for him to continue those performances during the coming MLS season. Did Barrett do enough to be selected in the final Olympic squad? If he performs well for the Fire during the coming months his name will surely be on the list of those heading to Beijing.