U.S. Soccer News Release -- www.ussoccer.com
Thursday, March 29, 2012
CHICAGO – The U.S. Futsal National Team will meet for a domestic training camp from April 1-7 in Torrance, Calif., in preparation for the 2012 CONCACAF Futsal Championship.
Guatemala will host the tournament from July 2-8 in which the U.S. will attempt to qualify for the 2012 FIFA Futsal World Cup in Thailand.
Head coach Keith Tozer has named 18 players to his roster, including two players from his Milwaukee Wave team, Nicolas Perera and Matthew Stewart. Tozer was recently named Major Indoor Soccer League Coach of the Year as the Wave won the 2012 MISL Championship for the second straight year.
In all 12 of the 18 players called into camp competed in the recently completed the MISL season, with all seven teams represented, including former league MVP Byron Alvarez of the Missouri Comets, All-League selection Machel Millwood of the Baltimore Blast and Rookie of the Year candidate Kevin Ten Eyck of the Wichita Wings.
The roster features nine players who competed in the Grand Prix of Futsal in Manaus, Brazil, last October. Kraig Chiles, Jeff Hughes, Lucas Stauffer and Stewart all notched goals in the invitational tournament.
The U.S. has won the CONCACAF championship twice, in 1996 and 2004. In 2008, the USA reached the Futsal World Cup but failed to advance out of the group stage. Tozer will continue to hold camps until qualifying begins.
U.S. Futsal National Team Roster by Position
GOALKEEPERS (2): Ryan Oster (Torrance, Calif.), Daniel Waltman (Gig Harbor, Wash./Missouri Comets)
DEFENDERS (4): Patrick Healey (Nottingham, Md./Baltimore Blast), Ljubomir Kocic (Metairie, La./Rochester Lancers), Kevin Ten Eyck (Wichita, Kan./Wichita Wings), Nelson Torres (Santa Clara, Calif.)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Kraig Chiles (San Diego, Calif.), Matt Clare (Brandon, Fla./Norfolk SharX), Jeff Hughes (Independence, Ky./Syracuse Silver Knights), Casey Macias (Irvine, Calif.), Angel Rivillo (Bala Cynwyd, Pa./Wichita Wings), Alex Robles (Lynwood, Calif.), Lucas Stauffer (Faribault, Minn.), Matthew Stewart (Chicago, Ill./Milwaukee Wave)
FORWARDS (4): Byron Alvarez (Kansas City, Mo./Missouri Comets), Machel Millwood (Laurel, Md./Baltimore Blast), Nicolas Perera (San Marcos, Calif./Milwaukee Wave), Bato Radoncic (Chicago, Ill./Missouri Comets)