May 29, 2001

From the U.S. Men's Under-20 National Team Press Officer Forrest Eber in Toulon, France POSTCARDS FROM TOULON

Each day we will send out a postcard from one of the members of the U.S. Under-20 Men's National Team that is in Toulon, France, competing in the 29th Toulon Festival.

Today's postcard is from defender  ...
OGUCHI ONYEWU
Height: 6' 2"        Weight: 180
Born: May 13, 1982
Hometown: Olney, Maryland
College: Clemson 

After our first win against Italy, we have the momentum. We feel that we can play with anyone right now, and that we should be playing well right now - and we are. I thought we played well against Italy, and the result shows it. The first game in every tournament is a big game, and we are happy we got a good win out of it. It think with that win we have the momentum and hopefully we will keep it and play well in our next few games. It all starts with Colombia tomorrow.

Everything so far in France has been great. The French people have treated us real well and their hospitality has been great. The atmosphere for this tournament has been unreal. The fans at the game were great, and they really knew soccer. It is a lot of fun to turn on the television and listen to the announcers talk about the tournament. Or to be walking around town and see the posters for the game. I'm just soaking this all in and everyone else is too. This is a great experience for us. We are so young and it is so early in our career - we are all just happy to be here.

From what we have seen, Toulon is a nice little town. Everyone seems really friendly and treats us well. It is a cool area, although there is not a whole lot for us to do. There is a mall right next door to our hotel, and we've been spending some time in there. We've also been doing a lot of walking around the town, checking out the harbor area and doing some shopping. Mostly though, we are resting and getting ready for the next game. We are just focusing on soccer at the moment and doing whatever we can do to get ready for the next game. After our result in the first game, we are in a great position.

Oguchi Onyewu scored the equalizer in the 61st minute in the USA's 2-1 win against Italy on Thursday. The goal was Onyewu's first international goal at the Under-20 level.