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USMNT to Host Belgium in Cleveland

The U.S. Men’s National Team will host Belgium for the first time when the teams meet May 29 at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio . Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. ET, and the match will be broadcast live on ESPN2 and WatchESPN. Fans can also follow on ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker and on Twitter @ussoccer.

Tickets go on sale to the public Tuesday, March 19, at 10 a.m. ET through ussoccer.com, by phone at 1-800-745-3000 and at all Ticketmaster ticket centers throughout metro Cleveland (including many Giant Eagle locations), as well as the FirstEnergy Stadium ticket office (open Monday-Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.).

Groups of 20 or more can obtain an order form at ussoccer.com or call 312-528-1290. Ultimate Fan Tickets (special VIP packages that include a premium ticket, a custom-made official U.S. National Team jersey with name and number, VIP access to the field before and after the game, and other unique benefits) are also available exclusively through ussoccer.com.

As a sponsor of U.S. Soccer, Visa is pleased to offer all Visa cardholders access to an advance ticket sale for this match before the sale to the general public. This advance sale starts Monday, March 18, at 10 a.m. ET and runs until Tuesday, March 19, at 8 a.m. ET at ussoccer.com. Visa will be the only payment method accepted through the Visa presale and is the preferred card of U.S. Soccer. Terms and conditions apply.

“Belgium is definitely a team on the rise,” said U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann. “If you look at their roster, they have quality players from top to bottom who are on some of the biggest clubs in Europe. It’s a big opportunity for us and a great way to start the summer as we prepare for the World Cup qualifiers.”

The previous four meetings against Belgium have been on foreign soil. Playing in its first World Cup match ever, the U.S. collected a 3-0 victory against Belgium on July 13, 1930, in Montevideo, Uruguay. The other three encounters took place in Belgium, where the U.S. has failed to score. Overall, the Belgians hold a 3-1-0 advantage in the series. In the last meeting, a disallowed goal by Maurice Edu in the 86th minute left the U.S. with a 1-0 loss in rainy conditions on Sept. 6, 2011, in the third match coached by Jurgen Klinsmann.

Currently ranked No. 19 in the FIFA World Rankings, the Belgians are in first place in Group A of UEFA qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The Red Devils boast an array of talent plying their trade in top teams across Europe, including Everton midfielder Marouane Fellaini (club teammate of U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard), Manchester City defender Vincent Kompany and Chelsea striker Eden Hazard.

The city of Cleveland will play host to the U.S. Men’s National Team for the third time. In its only other visit against national team opposition, the U.S. defeated Venezuela 2-0 in the second match of the Send-Off Series for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. On that day, a young Michael Bradley earned his first cap for the Senior National Team. Twelve years earlier, the USA made its first Cleveland appearance when facing German Bundesliga powerhouse Bayern Munich, losing 3-2 at the old Municipal Stadium on May 21, 1994.

The match against Belgium kicks off a packed summer for the National Team, which will play in three FIFA World Cup qualifiers in June and the CONCACAF Gold Cup in July. In addition, U.S. Soccer is celebrating its 100-year Anniversary and will be hosting a number of events throughout the year.

Two Crew Academy Players Named to U.S. U-17 MNT 2013 Spring Residency Roster

U.S. U-17 Men’s National Team head coach Richie Williams has invited 31 players to the 2013 Spring Semester of the U.S. Under-17 Residency Program in Bradenton, Fla.  Two of the players, GK Carter Richardson and M Ben Swanson, come from the coveted Crew Soccer Academy program.

In 2013, the U.S. will be participating in the 2013 CONCACAF U-17 Championship, which serves as the qualifying tournament for the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup for the CONCACAF region.

“We are very excited about the group of players that we brought in this semester,” said Williams. “We feel very confident in this group that will provide us with 20 players to go on to World Cup qualifying and hopefully through a successful World Cup qualifying campaign, and will lead us to this year’s World Cup.”

Five players – Collin Fernandez, Justen Glad, Nathan Kohl, Erik Palmer-Brown and Caleb Smith – join the Residency Program for the first time, while Steven Echevarria returns to the fold after being absent during the 2012 Fall Semester.

Twenty-five players return from the previous semester, including defender Shaquell Moore and forward Rubio Rubin, who lead the current cycle in caps with 24, as well as midfielder Corey Baird and defender John Requejo Jr., who have 22 caps each.

The players in Bradenton represent 17 U.S. Soccer Development Academy clubs. The New York Red Bulls send four players in midfielders Echevarria, Christopher Lema, goalkeeper Evan Louro and forward Wesley Wade.

The U.S. players live on campus at the IMG Academies in Bradenton and train in the morning under the guidance of Williams and his coaching staff. In the afternoon, the players attend classes at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School.

While in the full-time Residency Program, the U.S. team not only trains daily, but also has access to the IMG Academies facilities. The team regularly uses the state-of-the-art strength-training facilities, as well as brand new dormitories and meal rooms.

The U.S. U-17 MNT will compete in the 2013 CONCACAF Championship from April 6-19 in Panama. The U.S. will be joined in Panama by the hosts, as well as by Barbados, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico and Trinidad & Tobago.

“This is the most important semester we have here,” said Williams. “They’ve been developing over these past three semesters and now it comes to the most important games, which really mean something in terms of going down to Panama and having to qualify for the World Cup. We think we’ll be ready. We still have three more months. We’re excited and we’re confident that this group of players will lead us to the World Cup.”

Beginning in 1999, the Residency Program has given players an opportunity to grow and move up the ladder in the world of soccer and become professionals in Major League Soccer, some of the biggest clubs in Europe and even make an impact on the full U.S. Men’s National Team. The program in Bradenton provides players with an environment where they can prosper as individual players and come together as a team ahead of regional and world competition.

Since its inception, more than 300 players have been through the full-time Residency Program, and more than 100 of those players have moved on to Major League Soccer or the professional leagues in Europe. Twenty-four players have also registered at least one cap with the full MNT: Freddy Adu, Gale Agbossoumonde, Juan Agudelo, Jozy Altidore, DaMarcus Beasley, Kyle Beckerman, Michael Bradley, Bobby Convey, Landon Donovan, Eddie Gaven, Omar Gonzalez, Eddie Johnson, Eric Lichaj, Justin Mapp, Chad Marshall, Dax McCarty, Oguchi Onyewu, Heath Pearce, Santino Quaranta, Robbie Rogers, Brek Shea, Jonathan Spector, Danny Szetela and Anthony Wallace.

U.S. U-17 Men’s National Team Roster by Position:

GOALKEEPERS (4): Jeff Caldwell (NC Fusion; Todd, N.C.), Paul Christensen (Seattle Sounders; Woodinville, Wash.), Evan Louro (New York Red Bulls; South River, N.J.), Carter Richardson (Crew Soccer Academy; Dublin, Ohio)

DEFENDERS (10): Conor Donovan (NC Alliance; Fuquay Varina, N.C.), Justen Glad (Real Salt Lake AZ Academy; Tucson, Ariz.), Malcolm Jones (Chivas USA; Chino Hills, Calif.), Elijah Martin (Unattached; Fresno, Calif.), Shaquell Moore (Unattached; Powder Springs, Ga.), Erik Palmer-Brown (Sporting Kansas City; Lee’s Summitt, Mo.), Tommy Redding (FC America Premier; Oviedo, Fla.), John Requejo Jr. (Real So Cal; Carpinteria, Calif.), Peter Schropp (Omaha FC; Omaha, Neb.), Tyler Turner (South Central Premier; West Haven, Conn.)

MIDFIELDERS (9): Mukwelle Akale (Minnesota Thunder; Minneapolis, Minn.), Steven Echevarria (New York Red Bulls; Slate Hill, N.Y.), Collin Fernandez (Chicago Fire Academy; Downers Grove, Ill.), Junior Flores (Unattached; Manassas Park, Va.), Angel Heredia (San Jose Earthquakes; San Jose, Calif.), Christopher Lema (New York Red Bulls; Ridgefield, N.J.), Rolando Muñoz (LA Galaxy; Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.), Caleb Smith (Solar Chelsea SC; Arlington, Texas), Ben Swanson (Crew Soccer Academy; Grove City, Ohio)

FORWARDS (8): Corey Baird (San Diego Surf; Escondido, Calif.), Sebastian Elney (Boca United; Lake Worth, Fla.), Bradford Jamieson (Chivas USA; Los Angeles, Calif.), Nathan Kohl (Crew Soccer Academy; Hilliard, Ohio), Rubio Rubin (Unattached; Beaverton, Ore.), Ahinga Selemani (CSA Wolves; Ann Arbor, Mich.), Wesley Wade (New York Red Bulls; South Orange, N.J.), Alan Winn (Solar Chelsea FC; Garland, Texas)

Gomez Keeps Qualifying Hopes Alive for the U.S.

Much excitement can be taken from Tuesday night in Columbus, not least the atmosphere in and around the stadium that has led to fans in some quarters calling for Columbus to become the home of the U.S. National Team. After a poor and lackluster performance in Jamaica just days earlier, Jurgen Klinsmann’s side turned on the style on Tuesday with a performance that puts the World Cup Qualifying bid back on track.

On the field though there were many positives that could be taken from the performance and from back to front the U.S. looked solid and have plenty of individual performances to build on as the team continues World Cup Qualifying play. The quality of the playing surface in Crew Stadium was obviously a major factor in the way the U.S. could go about playing soccer and Clint Dempsey stressed to me after the game “that the surface played a massive part in how the team could play, keeping the ball moving on the ground against the physical tight marking of the opposition.”

During the first half of play the U.S. dominated proceedings and but for some outstanding goalkeeping from Dwayne Miller and the curse of the woodwork could have had the game sown up. The forward play from Clint Dempsey, Graham Zusi and Steve Cherundolo in particular was fantastic and led to the creation of numerous opportunities although had Cherundolo’s final ball been better the U.S. could have been further in the ascendancy. From a defensive standpoint the performance of Geoff Cameron was fantastic and he marshaled the defense well, constantly breaking down any threat that Jamaicans showed on their rare forays into the United States defensive third. Cameron’s calm persona on the ball allowed either Danny Williams or Jermaine Jones to drop into the space between the defense and midfield. This got the play started for the U.S., either possessing the ball or releasing the wide players or full backs early and with pace that the Jamaican backline couldn’t handle.

After the game Klinsmann paid special attention to the importance of keeping possession, playing with pace and constantly playing at a high intensity by stressing that even when the ball isn’t going in for you, you cannot panic and start to think you will never score, a point that he was always reinforcing as he rarely took a step back from the edge of his technical area. When asked about his reasoning for constantly being on the touchline Klinsmann commented that he wanted his players to keep driving forward, by saying “On the sideline we want the players to feel a sense of urgency, keep pushing and pushing without letting go for even one second,” he explained. “That sense of urgency helped us.”

In the second half the goal that both the crowd and the players had been waiting for finally came and after being the hero in the first half, Miller in the Reggae Boyz goal become the villain when he could only palm Herculez Gomez’s free kick into the inside panel of the net. Although Gomez struck the ball well, Miller will surely feel that he should have saved it, a point that was reiterated by Dempsey who agreed that Jamaican goalkeeper Dwayne Miller could have done better with Gomez’s strike, but added, “You deserve a bit of luck when you hit the bar woodwork three times and create the quality chances that we did.” After the goal the Reggae Boyz came to life slightly and caused the U.S. some problems, but the well marshaled United States defense stood firm and although a second goal would have been nice the final whistle was greeted with huge cheers as everyone in the stadium realized the importance of the night’s victory.

The victory provided a great backdrop for the super charged atmosphere that was also further emotionally charged by the significance of the date being September 11th and the crowd paid their tribute with a well observed moment of silence and a flag waving tribute between the 9th and 11th minute of the game in remembrance of the many heroes of that fateful day. The significance of this day was not forgotten by the U.S. players and staff either with their sentiments led by Head Coach Jurgen Klinsmann who discussed how prior to the game, the three first responders were honored had been invited to address the team at length on the eve of the game. Stating that they spoke calmly, but provided a big learning curve for the team adding “It was really wonderful.”

Event Photos

Klinsmann Completes Training Camp Roster with 11 Additional Players

U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has added 11 additional playersto the initial squad of 16 that is training at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla. The newest players begin reporting today, and will continue throughout the week as their club schedules are completed.

The team will train in Orlando until May 25, when Klinsmann will select a final 23-man roster for the upcoming five matches. The group then departs for Jacksonville and the match on May 26 against Scotland (8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, Galavision). Prior to matchday, the team will host a public training session May 25 at EverBank Field.

“We are excited now to get towards full numbers with the MLS guys and also the players from Europe who are coming in with great form,” said Klinsmann. “We want them to pick up the rhythm as fast as possible and make them understand that we are taking the next couple weeks very seriously. We will continue with our rhythm of two trainings a day and see where the players are really at before we make our final decisions on the 23-man roster for the upcoming games.”

The nearly month-long series of training and games has been designed to mimic the circumstances the team will face in a tournament format, with meticulous planning dedicated to technical aspects, travel, nutrition, logistics and the rhythm of team movement to create a performance driven environment.

ROSTER ADDITIONS BY POSITION

DEFENDERS (4): Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo), Clarence Goodson (Brondby), Oguchi Onyewu (Sporting Lisbon), Michael Parkhurst (Nordsjaelland)

MIDFIELDERS (1) : Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)

FORWARDS (6): Juan Agudelo (Chivas USA), Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar), Terrence Boyd (Borussia Dortmund), Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Herculez Gomez (Santos), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)

REPORTING DATES

May 20: Agudelo, Boyd, Cameron, Donovan, Wondolowski, Zusi

May 21: Onyewu

May 23: Gomez

May 24: Goodson, Parkhurst

May 28: Altidore

UPDATED U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION

GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)

DEFENDERS (8): Carlos Bocanegra (Rangers), Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo), Edgar Castillo (Club Tijuana), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Clarence Goodson (Brondby), Alfredo Morales (Hertha Berlin), Oguchi Onyewu (Sporting Lisbon), Michael Parkhurst (Nordsjaelland)

MIDFIELDERS (9): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Michael Bradley (Chievo Verona), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim), Jermaine Jones (Schalke 04), Jose Torres (Pachuca), Danny Williams (Hoffenheim), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)

FORWARDS (7): Juan Agudelo (Chivas USA), Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar), Terrence Boyd (Borussia Dortmund), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Herculez Gomez (Santos), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)

Klinsmann Announces First 16 Players to Report to Training Camp in Orlando

U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has named an initial squad of 16 players that will begin reporting today to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla. The group consists largely of foreign-based players who have completed their seasons and are ready to prepare for the series of matches that culminates in the start of FIFA World Cup qualifying on June 8 against Antigua & Barbuda in Tampa, Fla.

As many as 13 additions will be announced May 20 and will be a mixture of domestic and foreign-based players to round out the training camp. The team will train in Orlando until May 25, when Klinsmann will select a final 23-man roster for the upcoming five matches. The group then departs for Jacksonville, Fla., in preparation for the match on May 26 against Scotland (8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, Galavision). The team will host a public training session May 25 at EverBank Field .

“All the players coming now for this very special four-week period represent our core,” said Klinsmann. “It’s a clear signal to other players that right now it’s down to business. We’re playing World Cup qualifiers. It’s not about experimenting or seeing different players, it’s about who we think are the best. We are excited to start with this first group of players, and then welcome more at the beginning of next week. It’s the first time we will have our best players together for a longer stretch of time, so we have a chance to work very hard and go out and get results.”

The nearly month-long series of training and games has been designed to mimic the circumstances the team will face in a tournament format, with meticulous planning dedicated to technical aspects, travel, nutrition, logistics and the rhythm of team movement to create a performance-driven environment.

INITIAL U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION

GOALKEEPERS (3) :Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)

DEFENDERS (4) : Carlos Bocanegra (Rangers), Edgar Castillo (Club Tijuana), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Alfredo Morales (Hertha Berlin)

MIDFIELDERS (8) : Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Michael Bradley (Chievo Verona), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim), Jermaine Jones (Schalke 04), Jose Torres (Pachuca), Danny Williams (Hoffenheim)

FORWARDS (1) : Clint Dempsey (Fulham)

REPORTING DATES

May 15 : Beckerman, Castillo, Cherundolo, Corona, Guzan, Johnson, Jones, Torres, Williams

May 16 : Guzan, Morales

May 18 : Bradley, Bocanegra, Dempsey, Edu, Howard