SALT LAKE CITY - Real Salt Lake DF Eddie Pope has been called into U.S. Men's National Team camp by Manager Bruce Arena as part of the 18-man roster that will face CONCACAF foe Jamaica and rookie RSL MF Ryan Johnson on Tuesday, April 11 at the SAS Soccer Complex in Cary, N.C. at 5:00 p.m. MT, live on ESPN2.
Pope, along with RSL teammate MF Chris Klein, rejoined the U.S. for its game against Germany on March 22, the team's first loss in its run up to the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany. Prior to the Germany match, Pope anchored the U.S. defense on February 27 helping to shut down FW Carlos Ruiz and the rest of the Guatemalan attack on February 19 at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas. In the match against Guatemala, Pope played a full 90 minutes along with RSL teammate Klein for the U.S.
The High Point, N.C. native notched his seventh career U.S. goal in the 5-0 rout of Norway on January 29. Pope has 77 career appearances and has tallied eight goals for the U.S. since his first appearance on November 10, 1996 against Trinidad & Tobago. He started and played in 20 RSL games during the 2005 season, and tallied one goal against the Los Angeles Galaxy on May 14.
The U.S. is undefeated in 16 meetings with Jamaica, holding a 9-0-7 record against the Reggae Boyz. The teams' last meeting came in the quarterfinals of the 2005 Gold Cup, the U.S. collecting a 3-1 win on the strength of goals by Josh Wolff and a pair from DaMarcus Beasley. While never dropping a match to Jamaica, there have been a number of close match-ups with five of the nine victories coming by just one goal.
The U.S. has kicked off the year in solid form, going 4-1-1 and netting 14 goals while surrendering six. After drawing with Canada on Jan. 22 in San Diego in their opening game of 2006, the U.S. has produced four straight victories against Norway, FIFA World Cup finalists Japan and Poland, and Guatemala, three by shutout.
ROSTER BY POSITION
Goalkeepers (2) - Tony Meola (New York Red Bulls), Matt Reis (New England Revolution)
Defenders (5) - Chris Albright (Los Angeles Galaxy), Nick Garcia (Kansas City Wizards), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids), Eddie Pope (Real Salt Lake)
Midfielders (7) - Clint Dempsey (New England Revolution), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Pat Noonan (New England Revolution), John O'Brien (out of contract), Ben Olsen (D.C. United), Steve Ralston (New England Revolution), Kerry Zavagnin (Kansas City Wizards)
Forwards (4) - Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Wizards), Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution), Josh Wolff (Kansas City Wizards)
