Keepin' It Fresh

While the United States WNT has been the center of attention recently, the U.S. MNT coaching staff have kept busy tracking player development at home and abroad. It’s a tough task with more and more Americans scattered around the world’s top leagues and the country’s best clubs. The most efficient response is probably to have all the talent come to you, which is what happened last week at The US Soccer Development Academy’s Fall Showcase, but for the senior national team the program goes to the players.



Our team has mixed in some fresh faces with the European-based vets for this weeks training camp before Wednesday’s friendly against Switzerland. Some guys on the roster you might never have heard of before.

U-20 standouts Sal Zizzo, Danny Szetela, and Freddy Adu, all of whom have begun their careers in either Germany or Spain, get a chance to reunite with teammate Mike Bradley (whose just about the youngest veteran imaginable) after their performance in Canada this summer. Benny’s now one of the offensive leaders in the midfield, along with DaMarcus, whose been getting the job done - and in style - with Rangers recently. In his first game with the fresh blue boots, a Champions League match against Lyon, Beas notched a goal and an assist in a 3-0 Rangers win. The Fulham boys, Dempsey and Bocanegra, are in camp too, helping things out on the leadership side of things.

With MLS still going strong, one man you won’t be seeing is Landon Donovan. But that doesn’t mean he’s been forgotten about. Last week LD won his fourth Honda Player of the Year award. If it wasn’t before, the jury is now definitively out: he’s the best. All-time assist leader, momentarily tied for all-time goal scorer. It’s reassuring to know that he’ll be the link in this period of transition.

Check out the game this Wednesday, on FSC and Galavision at 2:30pm EST. But if you're an American Outlaw (pictured below), we'll see you there!