Arena Names 32 for First USMNT Camp of the New Year
Thirty-two players have been called to the first USMNT Training Camp of the year set to be held in California next week. Newly appointed head coach Bruce Arena will begin his preparation for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification matches scheduled for March.
Soccer News: U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Bruce Arena has called 32 players to the annual January Camp set to take place in Carson, California. Players will report January 10th to the National Training Center.
The event will be the first training camp coached by Arena since he took over the USMNT in November of last year, and comes just two months before the final round of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification resumes.
The entire 32-player roster comes from Major League Soccer, representing 15 different teams. Since the camp does not fall during a recognized FIFA international window, only players not in season are available to be selected.
In preparation for World Cup Qualifiers, the U.S. will begin the 2017 campaign with a friendly against Serbia on January 29th at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. PT, and will be broadcast live on ESPN2 and UniMas.
Five days later, the USMNT will make its first visit to Chattanooga, Tennessee, on February 3rd when they host Jamaica. Kickoff at Finley Stadium is set for 7 p.m. ET, and will broadcast live on FS1 and UniMas (simulcast on UDN).
“With games at the end of the month and the World Cup Qualifiers in March, this is going to be a critical time for us,” Arena said. “It’s important that we come in and quickly establish an understanding of what we are about and how we go about building our team. As for the players, we are coming into this with an open mind, so it’s a huge opportunity for them.”
U.S. Roster by Position
GOALKEEPERS (5): David Bingham (San Jose Earthquakes), Stefan Frei (Seattle Sounders FC), Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake), Luis Robles (New York Red Bulls)
DEFENDERS (10): DaMarcus Beasley (Unattached), Steve Birnbaum (D.C. United), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders FC), Greg Garza (Atlanta United FC), Matt Hedges (FC Dallas), Taylor Kemp (D.C. United), Chad Marshall (Seattle Sounders FC), Keegan Rosenberry (Philadelphia Union), Walker Zimmerman (FC Dallas), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
MIDFIELDERS (12): Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas), Alejandro Bedoya (Philadelphia Union), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Sporting Kansas City), Jermaine Jones (Unattached), Sacha Kljestan (New York Red Bulls), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy), Kekuta Manneh (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Dax McCarty (New York Red Bulls), Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers), Chris Pontius (Philadelphia Union), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew SC)
FORWARDS (5): Juan Agudelo (New England Revolution), Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders FC), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes), Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy)
Photo Credit: U.S. Soccer
