USMNT News and Notes

#31.

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The Yanks Are Coming - Sending out January camp invites to MLS: Cupcakes all around

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The backline of the yanks is in a time of transition.

Old hands like Steve Cherundolo and Carlos Bocanegra will be phased out
over the next couple of years and even veterans like Clarence Goodson
and Oguchi Onyewu are in the twilights of their careers, despite both
playing well in Denmark and Portugal respectively.

Next guys in? How about FC Dallas stalwart George John? John was on the
brink of a £1.2m deal to English Premier League club Blackburn before
talks broke down at the final moment. He was called up for this past
January camp under Bradley, but was forced to withdraw due to injury.
He’s also the owner of a Greek passport and has been called into the
Greek camp on at least one occasion. With EPL clubs sniffing around,
John’s talent is obvious. Surely Klinsmann is keeping tabs on this one
before the US loses another prospect to a European country. John is
just one of a new breed of American centerbacks who are sure to get
their opportunities soon enough.

Yanks-Abroad.com: Danny Williams' American journey

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Williams was born in Karlsruhe, Germany and is the son of a German
mother and an American father who served in the US military. While being
born a US citizen he never went through the process to secure his US
passport until this past week when he was invited to play with the US
national team.

Steve Davis: Jurgen Klinsmann setting precedent, getting this part right

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Klinsmann has been clear about the need for players to be, you know, “playing.” Talent
that languishes on some European bench is not talent that’s going
anywhere. So believes Klinsmann, who also stresses physical fitness. The
best player in the world can't be truly match fit if he's not pulling
regular duty over longer stretches.

Jeff Carlisle: Donovan's changing role for U.S.

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"Donovan is a very good soccer player," said Fox Soccer television
analyst Eric Wynalda. "He does so many good things. But I can hear the
'beep' from here. He's backing out of responsibility."

New York Times: Tutored in Germany, Playing for the U.S.

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When the United States team takes on France on Friday afternoon
in an exhibition game at the Stade de France north of Paris, about a
quarter of the American roster — Timothy Chandler, Jermaine Jones, Danny
Williams, Fabian Johnson and Alfredo Morales — will be more familiar
with Germany than with the United States.

All five play professionally in the German Bundesliga, one of the elite
leagues in the world, with a level of play significantly higher than
that found in Major League Soccer, the top North American professional
league.

Steve Davis: Growing concern in Camp Klinsmann; why some results matter

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A 1-0 loss on the road to a quality European team is no sin. Far from it.

But in the bigger context of what’s going on
with Klinsmann’s national team, there’s some growing alarm. When you
link Friday’s setback to Klinsmann’s other U.S. results, it’s hard not
to see the evening differently.

Which is why results in friendlies do,
indeed, sometimes matter. Not usually one result, per se, but strings of
results. They matter en masse because they alter the way we see
things, coloring context and perspective. They matter because pressure
builds and may shift the way managers and programs pursue their targets
in the bigger picture.

Soccer America: Will German player pipeline produce for USA?

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Four players born and raised in Germany played for the USA in its loss
to France on Friday and five are on the current roster. Six more
German-bred players are in the U.S. U-23 national team camp. The trend
recalls Tom Dooley’s great contributions of nearly two decades ago, but also raises some questions.

Soccer America: Other slots, not central mids, are hampering USA attack

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The attack didn’t suffer because the U.S. played with two central
midfielders who are not especially proficient with killer through balls
or mazy dribbles or delicate chips into the goalmouth. Many teams can
attack efficiently with a pair of two-way midfielders, if the other four
front players are of sufficient talent and collective intelligence.
Right now, it’s not happening, and probably won’t until Klinsmann can
get a potent partnership cooking between Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore and at least one other player, be it a central midfielder or wide player.

Against France, Dempsey and Altidore were all right and that might have been good enough had not wide mids Brek Shea and Danny Williams been poor. With only two real options to play the ball to and outside backs Tim Chandler and Steve Cherundolo locked down in defensive mode most of the time, it’s not surprising that Edu and Beckerman labored.

FOX Soccer to Broadcast Nike International Friendlies During 2011 Development Academy Winter Showcase

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The U.S. U-17 MNT will play each of its games at 5 p.m. ET, facing off
against France on Nov. 30, Turkey on Dec. 2 and Brazil on Dec. 4.

Rumored upcoming friendlies:

Venezuela vs. USA, 21 Jan; Panama vs. USA, 25 Jan

Javier Perez Named U.S. Under-18 Men's National Team Head Coach

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Perez is the Director of Coaching at New York Soccer Club and was
previously a coach at Real Madrid, spending six years with the Spanish
team as a coach in the club’s development center.

The
Valladolid, Spain, native holds a UEFA PRO license from the Royal
Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and a UEFA “A” license from the
English Football Association, and he worked at the RFEF as a member of
the management team for the Master License available to senior coaches.

Tab Ramos Names 26-Player Roster for U.S. U-20 Men's National Team Training Camp in Florida

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GOALKEEPERS (3): Tomas Gomez (Georgetown; Webster Groves, Mo.),
Jesus Guzman (Santos Laguna; San Jose, Calif.), Kamil Kaminski (Legia
Warszawa; Berlin, Conn.)
DEFENDERS ( 8 ): AJ Cochran
(Wisconsin; St. Louis, Mo.), Sean Cunningham (Molde FK; Troy, Mich.),
Christian Dean (California; East Palo Alto, Calif.), Mobi Fehr
(Unattached; Tokyo, Japan), Eric Miller (Creighton; Woodbury, Minn.),
Juan Pablo Ocegueda (UANL Tigres; Riverside, Calif.), Boyd Okwuonu
(North Carolina; Edmund, Okla.), Walker Zimmerman (Furman;
Lawrenceville, Ga.).
MIDFIELDERS (10): Seth Casiple
(California; Rocklin, Calif.), Daniel Cuevas (Santos Laguna; Sacramento,
Calif.), Matt Dunn (OFK Beograd; Dallas, Texas), Daniel Garcia (FC
Dallas Academy; Dallas, Texas), Alejandro Guido (Unattached; Chula
Vista, Calif.), Benji Joya (Santos Laguna; San Jose, Calif.), Mikey
Lopez (North Carolina; Mission, Texas), Collin Martin (D.C. United
Academy; Chevy Chase, Md.), Daniel Metzger (Maryland; Staten Island,
N.Y.), Victor Pineda (Chicago Fire; Bollingbrook, Ill.)
FORWARDS (5):
Villyan Bijev (Fortuna Düsseldorf; Fresno, Calif.), Alfred Koroma
(Solar Chelsea SC; Southlake, Texas), Sean Okoli (Wake Forest; Federal
Way, Wash.), Andrew Oliver (Chicago Fire Academy; Indianapolis,
Ind.), Omar Salgado (Vancouver Whitecaps; El Paso, Texas)

Rumored news USMNT away jersey

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The jersey pictured above was listed on the online shop for Nike, the
official outfitter of the national team, as the new U.S. away kit before
being pulled from the website earlier in the day.

USA rises in latest FIFA rankings

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The 1-0 win in Genoa propelled the U.S. men up four spots to No. 27,
marking the highest they've been ranked since Jurgen Klinsmann took
over as manager last August. They had been as low as 34th as recently as
December before beginning to climb incrementally since then.


The U.S. men closed the gap on Mexico for the highest ranking in
CONCACAF, with El Tri falling a spot to No. 22 after a loss to Colombia.

Klinsmann addresses Herculez Gomez's status with US

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For those who are wondering whether US national team manager Jurgen
Klinsmann actually has Herculez Gomez on his radar, the answer is “yes.”

“We have a big roster,” Klinsmann told MLSsoccer.com. “We have
obviously 20 to 25 right now that we feel very comfortable with. But
there is a more extended roster filled with the January camp players, a
lot of them. And Herculez is part of that.”

Timmy Chandler Says No to USMNT Camp Invite: The Heir Apparent, May Not Be So Apparent

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On March 26th 2011
against Argentina, fans of US Soccer were given a glimpse of who they
thought was going to be the successor to long time right back Steve
Cherundolo. Coming in at half time, Tim Chandler quickly demonstrated a
penchant for going forward. His dangerous cross in the 48th minute
created a great scoring opportunity for Jozy Altidore and his speed down
the wing opened up multiple opportunities for the United
States. It was only one game, but Chandler looked as
if he could become an instant starter.

One year later, on the eve of a month long training
camp, which includes three international friendlies and concludes with
the start of World Cup qualifying, Chandler again has denied a call-up.
This time from fellow countrymen Jurgen Klinsmann, citing that he needs a
“break”. It seems that in turning down an important national team
call-up for the second time in two years, Chandler has no interest in
representing the US.

Being his own Bradley

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The 24-year-old U.S. and Chievo Verona midfielder is ready to talk about
one of his least favorite subjects: Michael Bradley. "There's a certain
part of what we do that unfortunately can't always be just held for
yourself," he says, sitting hunched over. He talks slowly, considering
every word, starting his sentences over, grimacing, staring off into the
distance for a second or two and then staring over again. "So, there's
the part of that … which … you know, which parts of that are you gonna
… erm … are you gonna give people a look at … are you going to let
them in on? For me, I don't feel the … I've never been somebody who's
felt the need to … on the outside of the team … or publicly … be in
the limelight or advertise myself."

"The most important stuff isn't the publicity and the Twitter," says
Bradley. "That's not who I am. What I choose to focus my energy and
concentration on is what am I all about as a player and as a person and
what can I do to make myself the best possible player and what can I do
to help whatever team I'm on win."

But there's the rub. Whereas for years the hyper-focused, no-frills
Bradley quietly went about his work in the middle of the U.S. midfield
-- closing gaps, backing up teammates, distributing, defending, tracking
back, joining the attack -- he's gotten so good at his job lately that
the limelight has come to him.