REAL SALT LAKE
GOALKEEPER NICK RIMANDO CALLED INTO
U.S. NATIONAL TEAM’S JANUARY CAMP
Veteran Netminder to Serve as 24-Man Roster’s Elder
Statesman during 19-Day Stint at The Home Depot Center;
Camp to Culminate on Jan. 22 with Friendly against
Fellow 2010 World Cup Round of 16 Participant Chile
SANDY, Utah (Tuesday, December 21, 2010) – U.S. Men’s
National Team head coach Bob Bradley has included Real Salt Lake
goalkeeper Nick Rimando among the 24 players that will take part in the
squad’s training camp that will begin Jan. 4 at U.S. Soccer's National
Training Center at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. The group
will prepare for the USA’s first match of 2011, a friendly against fellow FIFA
World Cup finalists Chile on Saturday, Jan. 22 at The HDC (tickets).
Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. MT, with broadcast information to be
announced at a later date. Fans can follow the game live via ussoccer.com’s
MatchTracker or on twitter @ussoccer.
The
annual camp held in January for players in their offseason is a largely
domestic-based group that includes 20 players who ply their trade in the United
States, and the coaching staff is taking full advantage of the opportunity to
assess new talent. The 31-year-old Rimando will serve as the camp’s elder
statesman – the 24 invitees will average 23 years of age, with half of them in
search of their first cap for the full team – and is the only one of the four
goalkeepers with previous experience at the senior international level, having
earned four caps since his debut in 2002.
Rimando
enjoyed the best season of his illustrious 11-year MLS career in 2010, a
campaign that included his first ever MLS All-Star Game appearance, a career-
and League-high 14 shutouts and a career-high goals against average of 0.67, a
mark that was the second lowest in League annals. The UCLA product was a key
cog in RSL’s record-setting defense, as he posted the two longest shutout
streaks for a goalkeeper in MLS this season, the 568-minute (3rd all-time)
and 511-minute (6th all-time) stretches contributing to the 3rd and
4th longest shutout runs for a team in MLS history. Rimando’s 2010
campaign marked a continuation of his stellar form in 2009, when his remarkable
play and clutch shot-stopping led Real Salt Lake to its first MLS Cup crown, in
which he earned the MLS Cup MVP award and his second League championship ring
in the process.
This
marks the second straight invite to Bradley’s annual January camp for Rimando,
whose time in the U.S. National Team system began back in the mid-1990’s when
he was a stalwart for the U.S. Under-17 side. Rimando did not see any action in
the USA’s camp-breaking friendly against Honduras in Carson last January (1-3
L), but he did suit up for the Red, White & Blue a month later on February
24 against El Salvador, when he played the full 90 minutes in a 2-1 friendly
victory at Raymond James Stadium.
That
match marked Rimando’s first appearance for the USA since the Bruce Arena era,
when he notched his first complete-game shutout in a 2-0 friendly victory over
Wales on May 26, 2003, at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, Calif. Rimando began his
senior international career by notching second half shutouts on the heels of
starter Tim Howard on two occasions – a 2-0 win over El Salvador at RFK Stadium
in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 17, 2002; and a 4-0 trouncing of Canada two months
later on Jan. 18, 2003, at Lockhart Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. In all,
Rimando now has a 2-0-0 record and 0.33 GAA in his four caps for the full U.S.
side.
U.S. ROSTER BY
POSITION Detailed
Roster
GOALKEEPERS (4): Dominic Cervi (Celtic),
Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire), Matt Pickens (Colorado Rapids), Nick Rimando
(Real Salt Lake)
DEFENDERS (9): A.J. DeLaGarza (Los
Angeles Galaxy), Sean Franklin (Los Angeles Galaxy), Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles
Galaxy), Ugo Ihemelu (FC Dallas), Zach Loyd (FC Dallas), Ryan Miller (Halmstads
BK), Tim Ream (New York Red Bulls), Anthony Wallace (Colorado Rapids), Marvell
Wynne (Colorado Rapids)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Eric Alexander (FC
Dallas), Alejandro Bedoya (Örebro), Sam Cronin (San Jose Earthquakes), Mikkel
Diskerud (Stabaek), Jeff Larentowicz (Colorado Rapids), Dax McCarty (D.C.
United), Brek Shea (FC Dallas)
FORWARDS (4): Juan Agudelo (New
York Red Bulls), Justin Braun (Chivas USA), Teal Bunbury (Sporting Kansas
City), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)
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