Gyasi Zardes and Sebastian Lletget receive call-ups for U.S. National Team camp

Galaxy forward Gyasi Zardes and midfielder Sebastian Lletget were among the 32 players that received invites to the U.S. Men’s National Team camp.

The camp begins Jan. 10 at StubHub Center. The U.S. will play its first friendly under new galaxycoach Bruce Arena, Jan. 29 against Serbia in San Diego.

Also on the roster is midfielder Jermaine Jones. The Galaxy acquired the rights to Jones last month, but have yet to finalize a new contract.

The U.S. will also face Jamaica, Feb. 3 in Tennessee, players will then be released to their MLS clubs to prepare for the preseason.

Zardes is returning from a broken fifth metarasal in his right foot suffered in August and that sidelined him for the remainder of the MLS season. He has made 31 appearances for the national team.

For Lletget, this is his first national team call-up. Lletget joined the Galaxy during the 2015 season and has made 40 starts, with eight goals and 10 assists.

As expected, the list is made up of all MLS players. This is still a group that has World Cup qualifying experience. There are 15 players among the group with such experience.

“We’re real excited about the camp coming up,” Arena said. “We’re looking forward to working with that group. We want to evaluate these 32 players and try to project ahead to the qualifiers in March and see if any of these players can position themselves to help our team in qualifying.”

Here is the complete list:

U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION

GOALKEEPERS (5): David Bingham (San Jose Earthquakes), Stefan Frei (Seattle Sounders FC), Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake), Luis Robles (New York Red Bulls)

DEFENDERS (10): DaMarcus Beasley (Unattached), Steve Birnbaum (D.C. United), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders FC), Greg Garza (Atlanta United FC), Matt Hedges (FC Dallas), Taylor Kemp (D.C. United), Chad Marshall (Seattle Sounders FC), Keegan Rosenberry (Philadelphia Union), Walker Zimmerman (FC Dallas), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)

MIDFIELDERS (12): Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas), Alejandro Bedoya (Philadelphia Union), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Sporting Kansas City), Jermaine Jones (Unattached), Sacha Kljestan (New York Red Bulls), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy), Kekuta Manneh (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Dax McCarty (New York Red Bulls), Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers), Chris Pontius (Philadelphia Union), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew SC)

FORWARDS (5): Juan Agudelo (New England Revolution), Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders FC), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes), Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy)

 

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Bruce Arena fills out his U.S. Men’s National Team coaching staff

Bruce Arena filled out his coaching staff with the U.S. Men’s national soccer team and it has a familiar look.

arenastaffDave Sarachan, Pat Noonan, Kenny Arena and Matt Reis were all added to the staff, all four coached with Arena during his tenure with the Galaxy.

Sarachan was Arena’s assistant from 2000-2002 with the national team and at the University of Virginia (1984-88), D.C. United (1998-99) and as the Associate Head Coach with the Galaxy (2008-2016).

Noonan was an assistant with the Galaxy for the past four seasons and Kenny Arena, Bruce’s son was an assistant with the Galaxy for three seasons.

Reis (Santa Margarita HS) will serve as the goalkeeping coach. He’s held the same position for the past two seasons for the Galaxy.

It was also announced that former U.S. U-20 national team coach Thomas Rongen has joined on as the Chief Scout.

The U.S. will open their January training camp next week at the StubHub Center. They will face Serbia in a friendly, Jan. 29 in San Diego.

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U.S. men’s national soccer team will kick off 2017 in San Diego

Bruce Arena’s first game as U.S. men’s national soccer team coach is set for Jan. 29 against Serba at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

The game will kick off at 1 p.m. Tickets will go on sale Monday.

Arena is preparing for his second tenure as coach of the U.S., having replaced Jurgen Klinsmann in November.

The game will come at the end of the annual January camp.This is not a FIFA date. The U.S. resumes World Cup qualifying, in March with a home game against Honduras and a trip to Panama.

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100 Percent Soccer column: Can an American Premier League coach prove English skeptics wrong?

bradleyapTrailblazer: Former USMNT coach Bob Bradley has become the first coach of a Premier League team when he joined Welsh club Swansea City; former U.S. star Landon Donovan is also an investor in the club. (Associated Press photo).

Read this week’s 100 Percent Soccer column here.

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U.S. men’s national team moves into Top 25 of FIFA rankings

The U.S. men’s national team has moved into the top 25 in the latest FIFA rankings, moving up four spots.

Mexico dropped one spot to 15th and Costa Rica moved up three places to 18th. El usaTri leads all CONCACAF teams.

Argentina and Belgium maintain their rankings as the top two nations, respectively. Germany is third. Colombia and Brazil are tied for fourth. Brazil made the biggest jump, moving up five spots.

Here is the top 20: 1. Argentina; 2. Belgium; 3. Germany; 4T. Colombia; Brazil; 6. Chile; 7. Portugal; 8. France; 9. Uruguay; 10. Wales; 11. Spain; 12. England; 13. Italy; 14. Croatia; 15. Mexico; 16. Switzerland; 17. Poland; 18. Costa Rica; 19. Ecuador; 20. Hungary.

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MLS Cup ready for prime time and USMNT faces Trinidad & Tobago at 5 p.m. on Fox Sports 1 with World Cup place at stake

russiaWClogo

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100 Percent Soccer column: U.S. Soccer fans kick back for tropical World Cup qualifying feast this Labor Day weekend

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Read this week’s 100 Percent Soccer column here.

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100 Percent Soccer Column: Frustrated with the lack of American success on the international level? Get used to it.

messimissMessi miss: Argentine superstar Lionel Messi reacts to his penalty kick miss in the final of the Copa America against Chile (Associated Press).

Failure is far more common than success as even the likes of top-tier soccer nations like Argentina, England and Mexico have discovered — and puts public frustration with the U.S. Men’s National Team into perspective.

Read this week’s 100 Percent Soccer column here.

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100 Percent Soccer Column: The most entertaining team at Euro 2016 is torching opponents like a fire-breathing dragon — and seeing its odds of winning the tournament slashed

welsh

Read this week’s 100 Percent Soccer column here.

And for the latest Vegas Euro 2006 round of 16 odds, courtesy of Bovada.lv, see below:

Euro 2016 Winner

France 4/1
Germany 9/2
Spain 11/2
Belgium 6/1
Croatia 9/1
England 9/1
Portugal 10/1
Italy 16/1
Poland 25/1
Wales 25/1
Switzerland 40/1
Hungary 100/1
Republic of Ireland 100/1
Iceland 150/1
Slovakia 150/1
Northern Ireland 250/1

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Where to watch the USA-Argentina Copa America semifinal tonight in Southern California

copasemi

With the U.S. scoring their record TV ratings so far in the tournament for the Ecuador game, tonight’s Copa America semifinal against Lionel Messi and Argentina is sure to produce even higher viewership.

Here’s a game preview and a list of just some of the many places in Southern California you can be sure will show the game.

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