Another reason to avoid paying attention to USMNT Camp Cupcake in Carson: it’s an Olympics identification camp

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The Galaxy’s Gyasi Zardes was included in the roster for the annual USMNT camp in Carson that starts next week as was a whole bunch of youngsters with an average player age of just 24.

“We start out our year with a January camp where we give the opportunity to the next wave of players to come in and make an impression and see if they are ready to step it up into international level, if they are ready to understand what it takes to become a National Team player,” said Klinsmann. “This camp will be a little bit different because we’re going to mix it almost half-and-half with senior players that are already National Team players or some that are older and maybe get the chance to play their first cap, and a lot of the Under-23 players that hopefully qualify us for Rio de Janeiro. This will be more of an identification camp and a development camp. We want to give those players a head start into their very busy year 2016, but we also want to make it clear to them that it’s a huge opportunity that you have to understand what it takes to step it up and to become an international-level player.”

From the Galaxy press release:

Zardes earns the call up after making 19 appearances for the USMNT in 2015, tying Claudio Reyna’s 1994 record for most caps by a U.S. player in their debut year with the National Team. He earned his first-ever call up to the USMNT during last year’s January camp and made his first start at StubHub Center in a 2-0 win over Panama, where he provided the game-winning assist to Clint Dempsey. In all, the Galaxy Homegrown Player score three goals and added three assists for the U.S. in 2015. Last season in MLS play, Zardes finished the campaign with six goals and four assists, bringing his Galaxy total to 26 goals and 10 assists in three seasons with the club.

Read more here.

The U.S. concludes camp with friendles against Iceland (12:45 p.m. Jan. 31 ESPN2) and Canada (7:15 p.m. Feb. 5 Fox Sports 1, UniMás, UDN).

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