D.C. United head coach Peter Nowak has seen a few changes in his side over the past couple of days.
First, forward Jaime Moreno has returned to the Washington area to be with wife Louise as they await the arrival of their fifth child.
In addition, joining the training camp is a native of Argentina with the last name Gomez. It's not star midfielder Christian, but instead it is Pablo, Christian's 18-year-old brother.
The Nueva Chicago youth product worked out with the club for the first time on Monday morning at IMG Academies. If he makes the team, United would have two sets of brothers on their roster. Brian Carroll's younger brother Jeff was picked up by the Black-and-Red in the 2006 MLS SuperDraft in January.
Defender Brandon Prideaux joined forward Alecko Eskandarian and defender David Stokes on the sidelines Monday, as the trio worked out apart from the rest of the team as they look to overcome minor injuries. Prideaux has a tender Achilles tendon, while Eskandarian has a sore groin and Stokes is nursing a quadriceps strain. All players have been running and taking part in light drills.
Following their Florida camp, the four-time MLS Cup champions will return to D.C. to continue training before departing for Spain for their international training camp. Details of the trip are expected to be announced later this week.
FIRE TOP T&T U-21s: The Chicago Fire recorded a 1-0 victory over Trinidad & Tobago's U-21 national team on Monday afternoon at the IMG Academies. The only goal of the game was scored by the Fire's top pick from the 2006 MLS SuperDraft, midfielder/forward Calen Carr.
Carr got on the end of a low cross from fourth-round SuperDraft pick Jeremy Ashe, poking it past the Trinidad & Tobago goalkeeper.
Though the match was only a preseason friendly, it didn't come without its hard knocks. In fact, Trinidad & Tobago saw one of its players sent off after picking up a pair of yellow cards for dangerous tackles. Fortunately for Fire coach Dave Sarachan, all his players came out unscathed.
CREW COACHES RULE: The Columbus Crew spent most of their afternoon session playing a soccer tennis tournament on one of the fields at the IMG Academies. Teams of two squared off on small courts, with one bounce allowed and three touches to get the ball back over the 'net', which was placed about five feet off the ground.
The championship match pitted Crew newcomers against Crew legends, and in the end, the legends took the title. Assistant coaches Mike Lapper and Robert Warzycha defeated Chilean internationals Sebastian Rozental and Marcos Gonzalez to earn the crown.
Jonathan Nierman is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
