Arena Picks 27 Players
Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, defenders Danny Califf and Sasha Victorine, and midfielder Pete Vagenas were among 27 players called into camp by U.S. Coach Bruce Arena for the Americans’ first game of 2003 -- against Canada on Jan. 18 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
The U.S. roster features only Major League Soccer players and the camp will be held in Bradenton, Fla., starting Jan. 4.
The group features 15 players with three or fewer international games on their resumes, including four who have never played for the United States at full national team level: San Jose Earthquake goalkeeper Joe Cannon, Columbus Crew defender Brian Dunseth, Kansas City Wizard defender Nick Garcia and Dallas Burn defender Ryan Suarez.
In other early season games, the U.S. plays Argentina in Miami on Feb. 8; Jamaica in Kingston, Jamaica, on Feb. 12 and Japan in Seattle on March 29.
Arena wants to use the camp to build fitness and form for those matches.
“Since most of these players have experienced a long layoff,” he said, “we will focus on improving their conditioning while continuing to evaluate their potential to compete at the international level.”
The full roster:
Goalkeepers: Cannon, Hartman, Tim Howard and Nick Rimando.
Defenders: Califf, Victorine, Dunseth, Garcia, Suarez, Wade Barrett, Carlos Bocanegra, Chad McCarty and Eddie Pope.
Midfielders: Vagenas, DaMarcus Beasley, Bobby Convey, Chris Klein, Kyle Martino, Pablo Mastroeni, Clint Mathis, Richard Mulrooney, Ben Olsen and Steve Ralston.
Forwards: Jeff Cunningham, Landon Donovan, Brian McBride and Taylor Twellman.
MLS Trade
In a trade spurred as much by salary cap considerations as anything else, D.C. United and the New York/New Jersey MetroStars have significantly shuffled the MLS deck.
Three-time champion D.C. United sent international veterans Jaime Moreno, Pope and Richie Williams to the MetroStars in exchange for defender Mike Petke, a first-round pick in the Jan. 17 draft and a future player allocation.
Moreno and Pope have spent their seven-year MLS careers with D.C. United, while Williams was there for all but one of those years.
The trio helped the team win the title in 1996, 1997 and 1999.
“I think in some ways it marks the end of an era,” said United Coach Ray Hudson. “In some ways it’s a sad day for the club, but major changes needed to be implemented.”
Etcheverry Back
One player who will remain with D.C. United is Bolivian veteran Marco Etcheverry, who has signed a one-year contract to return for an eighth MLS season. Etcheverry, 32, has been one of the marquee midfielders in MLS but was hampered in 2002 by a knee injury that required postseason surgery.
Mexico’s Luck
Mexican league teams Cruz Azul and UNAM, which qualified in November for the Copa Libertadores, South America’s premier club event, have been handed relatively straightforward assignments in the first round of the 32-team tournament.
The draw placed Cruz Azul in with Brazilian championship runner-up Corinthians, as well as The Strongest of Bolivia and Fenix of Uruguay.
Pumas Coach Hugo Sanchez saw UNAM grouped with Gremio of Brazil, Bolivar of Bolivia and Penarol of Uruguay.
The top two teams in each of the eight groups advance to the final 16.
Quick Passes
Former Bosnia national team coach Farouk Hadzibegic, 45, Tuesday was named coach of floundering French club Troyes.... Sergio Cragnotti, 62, has agreed to step down after 10 years as president of the Italian Serie A club Lazio.... English champion Arsenal has signed 17-year-old Swiss defender Philippe Senderos, who will join the team in July.
