Four members of D.C. United made their way to Carson, California this week to begin training with the U.S. Men's National Team. Bobby Boswell, Josh Gros, Bryan Namoff and Troy Perkins all began camp yesterday, while Brian Carroll was removed from the roster due to an ankle injury. Carroll has returned to D.C. to rehab and may rejoin the group should his ankle improve.
The training camp is the first for U.S. Interim Head Coach Bob Bradley, who served as a United assistant under Bruce Arena during the 1996 and 1997 seasons.
The group will prepare for the USA's first match of 2007, a friendly against Denmark on Jan. 20, at The Home Depot Center, as Gros, Namoff and Perkins all look for their first action with the full men's team. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN2 beginning at 1:50 p.m. PT (and will be tape-delayed on Univision).
Combine begins
In advance of next week's MLS SuperDraft, the MLS Combine began today in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. United Head Coach Tom Soehn was joined by Assistant Coach Mark Simpson, Technical Director Dave Kasper and team President and CEO Kevin Payne, as the group tries to determine their drafting preferences for next week.
Also of note, team Athletic Trainer Brian Goodstein was tabbed to head up the training staff during the combine. Current University of Illinois at Chicago Head Coach John Trask - who served as a D.C. assistant under Ray Hudson during 2002 and 2003 - is serving as a coach for the adidas TRICOLRE team.
