FRISCO, Texas — FC Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman gives a big thumbs up to the hiring of Jurgen Klinsmann as US national team coach.
“He has tremendous experience as a player and obviously tremendous experience as a coach so I think he has that instant credibility,” Hyndman said after FC Dallas’ training session for Wednesday’s Champions League fixture against Alianza FC. “We are all excited for him to step forward and make it a new day for the US national team.”
Hyndman added that a new coach brings “a normal breath of fresh air,” but it's a double-edged sword. Players who had previously been on the outside looking in can now see an opportunity with the US national team, but others may fall to the fringe of the USMNT picture.
“There are a lot of players where the light is going to go on,” Hyndman said, hoping former FC Dallas players like Dax McCarty or Heath Pearce and current members Brek Shea or Zach Loyd see some chances with the US team. "And then there might be some lights that go out for some of the players.”
FC Dallas center back Ugo Ihemelu was called into the January camp against Chile, but was sidelined due to hip and groin injuries.
His central defense partner, George John — a Greek–American widely recognized as one of the top center backs in MLS — has made no secret of his decision to wait and see if the US national team calls him up while the 2004 European champions Greece invited him to a camp in New York earlier this spring.
Shea held out of Tuesday training
Shea and Eric Avila were noticeably absent during FCD’s last training session before their match against Alianza. While Avila was traded to Toronto FC later in the day for forward Maicon Santos, the team’s leading goal-scorer, Shea, visited the doctor to recover from a lingering headache.
“He just had some illness today,” Hyndman said. “It wasn’t the stomach so we had him go see the doctor and got him some medications to see if we can get that headache away.”
Hyndman did not say if it would affect Shea before the game Wednesday night, but he did hypothesize on how long Shea had been suffering from the headaches.
“I think he probably had it against Chivas [last Sunday] as well.”
Robert Casner covers FC Dallas for MLSsoccer.com. He can be reached at rmcasner@gmail.com and on Twitter: @FCDallasBeatGuy
