SANDY, Utah (Tuesday, May 11, 2010) – U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Bob Bradley today named Real Salt Lake FW Robbie Findley to the preliminary 30-man U.S. National Team roster for this summer’s 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
Findley,
Real Salt Lake’s 2009 Golden Boot winner with 12 goals, will depart for the
National Team’s training camp in Princeton, N.J. on Saturday morning, following
RSL’s game vs. Western Conference rival Houston Dynamo on Thursday night (7:00
p.m. MT, ESPN2 and KALL700 Sports) at Rio Tinto Stadium. Tickets for the
early season rematch remain available and can be purchased online at www.RealSaltLake.com and www.RioTintoStadium.com, over the
phone at 888-4-RSL-TIX (888-477-5849), and in person at the Rio Tinto
Stadium Box Office from 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. MT.
“On behalf of Real Salt Lake, I’m very
pleased for Robbie Findley to be named to the preliminary USA roster,” said RSL
Head Coach Jason Kreis. “It is a great compliment for a young player
like Robbie to included, and a great reflection on our club that one of our own
is in contention to represent his country on the sport’s grandest stage.”
The 30 players will begin reporting to
Princeton, N.J., this Saturday, May 15 for the start of training camp, with
field sessions beginning two days later. Findley will miss a minimum of two
RSL games just for being named to the preliminary roster and will miss a
minimum of three more (5/29 v. KC, 6/2 @ DC, 6/5 @ DC) if he is included in the
final 23-man World Cup squad. For the first time in league history, Major
League Soccer will take a two-week hiatus during the opening round of the World
Cup, with Real Salt Lake not scheduled to play any league games between its
Wed., June 9 game vs. Los Angeles Galaxy and the Friday, June 25 contest
against the San Jose Earthquakes, both at Rio Tinto Stadium.
“I’m very thankful to be part of this U.S.
team, to show what I can do out there on the field at that level,” said
Findley, now RSL’s all-time leader in goals (24), game-winning goals (8) and
game-winning assists (4). “It’s huge for something like this to happen to
my career because I’ve been working very hard to get to this point. Growing up,
you dream about getting this opportunity; it’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance.”
This is the fourth World Cup since the start
of MLS in 1996 and the second since Real Salt Lake’s 2005 inception. Two former
RSL defenders, American Eddie Pope and Costa Rican Douglas Sequiera,
represented their nations in the FIFA World Cup Germany 2006 tournament, while
current RSL forward Álvaro Saborío also appeared in two games for his
native Costa Rica during that same tourney. Real Salt Lake’s lone remaining
“Original,” MF Andy Williams, earned his first-ever international cap
for Jamaica’s National Team, affectionately known as the “Reggae Boyz” at
France ’98 against Croatia. Former RSL forward Clint Mathis was one of
the United States’ heroes during its quarterfinal run in Korea/Japan 2002,
scoring a wonder-strike against Korea in group play.
The U.S. will face two of the traditionally
stronger teams from Europe in the Czech Republic and Turkey in the Send-Off
Series prior to departing for South Africa. Nearly 25,000 tickets have already
been sold for the match against Czech Republic on Tuesday, May 25 in
East Hartford, Conn. Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m. MT, and the match will be
broadcast live on ESPN and Galavision. The final home tune-up match against Turkey
will be played Saturday, May 29 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia,
where almost 40,000 tickets have already been sold. ESPN2 and Galavision will
broadcast the match live beginning at 12:00 p.m. MT. For both matches, ESPN
will be airing a special 30-minute pre-game show. Fans can also follow the
games live on ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker and at twitter.com/ussoccer.
Findley earned his fourth “cap” for the U.S. Senior Team in a 1-2 loss at Amsterdam Arena against Holland on March 3, starting and logging 63 minutes. That contest marked Findley’s third extended appearance in a match for Bradley across five weeks this winter, as the Arizona native received his first start for the squad and played the full 90 minutes in a 1-3 defeat to Honduras at The Home Depot Center on Jan. 23, prior to 68 minutes in the 2-1 win vs. El Salvador in Tampa on Feb. 24.
The February and March training camps were
Findley’s third such stints with the U.S. Men’s National Team since last
September, when he trained under Bradley in advance of the team’s World Cup
Qualifiers against El Salvador and at Trinidad & Tobago. The 24-year-old
Findley’s first “cap” with the USA was a brief one back on Oct. 17, 2007, when
he entered a 1-0 victory at Switzerland in the 90th minute in place
of Clint Dempsey.
For the detailed 30-man roster and more
information on the U.S. Men’s National Team’s preparation for the 2010 FIFA
World Cup in South Africa, please visit www.USSoccer.com.
U.S.
TRAINING CAMP ROSTER BY POSITION - Detailed
Roster
GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton)
DEFENDERS (9): Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Jay DeMerit (Watford), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)
MIDFIELDERS (12): DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers), Alejandro Bedoya (Örebro), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Stuart Holden (Bolton), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), José Torres (Pachuca)
FORWARDS (6): Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Edson Buddle (Los Angeles Galaxy), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Herculez Gomez (Puebla), Eddie Johnson (Aris Thessaloniki)
