U.S. men

Thirty players are invited to camp in Carson.

CHICAGO (December 23, 2003) -- Thirty players have been invited by coach Bruce Arena to a two-week United States men's training camp beginning January 4 at the National Training Center in Carson, Calif.

The camp will culminate in the Americans' first-ever match at The Home Depot Center January 18 against Denmark, a 3:30 p.m. (ET) game which will be televised by ESPN.

The U.S., which hasn't played since July, also will travel to Amsterdam to play the Netherlands February 18.

Twenty-seven of the U.S. players work in Major League Soccer with five apiece from the Chicago Fire and Kansas City Wizards.

Only Wade Barrett (AGF Aarhus, Denmark), Cory Gibbs (FC St. Pauli, Germany) and Robbie Russell (FC Sogndal, Norway) will return from overseas.

Two veterans return from injury. MetroStars defender Eddie Pope returns from knee problems having last played for the U.S. in a 0-0 draw with Mexico on May 8 in Houston. Columbus Crew striker Brian McBride has recovered from a cheek injury suffered during the Americans 2-1 loss to Brazil in the 2003 Gold Cup semifinals of the 2003 Gold Cup, He ended the tournament with three goals and an assist, giving him 23 goals, third-best in U.S. history and one behind Joe-Max Moore for second.

In addition to McBride, Pope, and Wolff, two other camp members represented the U.S. during its run to the 2002 World Cup quarterfinals. Crew defender Frankie Hejduk has 53 appearances for the U.S. men during a seven-year career and is one of two players to play every minute of the last two Gold Cups. Colorado Rapids midfielder Pablo Mastroeni played 11 times for the U.S. in 2003 and now has 25 international appearances.

Ten players are in search of their debut appearance in a full national team match, including Russell who received his first invitation to a U.S. camp.

After posting a 10-4-2 record in 2003, including a third-place finish at the Gold Cup, the U.S. starts CONCACAF World Cup qualifying June 13 against the winner of the home-and-away series between Grenada and Guyana.

Goalkeepers (4): Joe Cannon (Colorado Rapids) Kevin Hartman (Los Angeles Galaxy), Zach Thornton (Chicago Fire), Jonny Walker (MetroStars).
Defenders (11): Wade Barrett (AGF Aarhus, Denmark), Danny Califf (Los Angeles Galaxy), Jim Curtin (Chicago Fire), Nick Garcia (Kansas City Wizards), Cory Gibbs (FC St. Pauli, Germany), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Rich Kotschau (Colorado Rapids), Orlando Perez (Chicago Fire), Eddie Pope (D.C. United), Robbie Russell (FC Sogndal, Norway), Carey Talley (Kansas City Wizards).
Midfielders (9): Chris Albright (Los Angeles Galaxy), Chris Armas (Chicago Fire), Chris Klein (Kansas City Wizards), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids), Brian Mullan (San Jose Earthquakes), Richard Mulrooney (San Jose Earthquakes), Ben Olsen (D.C. United), Steve Ralston (New England Revolution), Kerry Zavagnin (Kansas City Wizards).
Forwards (6): Jeff Cunningham (Columbus Crew), Brian McBride (Columbus Crew), Pat Noonan (New England Revolution), Ante Razov (Chicago Fire), Josh Wolff (Kansas City Wizards), John Wolyniec (MetroStars).