The U.S. men’s soccer team today began a 12-day training camp at the U.S. Soccer National Training Center in Carson to prepare for its first game of 2015, an exhibition against Chile on Jan. 28 in Rancagua, Chile.
“The prize in 2015 for the senior national team is the Gold Cup, and this camp will give a lot of our players a chance to kick start their preparations for an important year,” coach Jurgen Klinsmann said.
“We also get an opportunity to introduce the next wave of young players into the program, and in particular work with many of our Olympic-age guys as they build toward qualifying for the 2016 Olympics in Rio.”
The 28 players in camp include seven from the team that reached the second round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup — midfielders Michael Bradley, Mix Diskerud, Jermaine Jones; forwards Clint Dempsey and Chris Wondolowski; defender Matt Besler and goalkeeper Nick Rimando; 14 players seeking to play for the national team for the first time and 12 who would be eligible to play for the U.S. in the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Players in camp with Southern California ties include Rimando (UCLA, Montclair High School); forwards Miguel Ibarra (UC Irvine, Lancaster High School), Bobby Wood (Irvine Strikers) and Gyasi Zardes (Leuzinger High School); and defenders Steve Birnbaum (Irvine Strikers) and Oscar Sorto (Manual Arts High School).
Following the Chile exhibition, the team will return to Carson to prepare for a Feb. 8 exhibition against Panama at StubHub Center.
