WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 9, 2015) – D.C. United has announced that midfielder Perry Kitchen and defender Steven Birnbaum have been called up to the U.S. Men’s National Team camp which will take place in Carson, Calif., and Santiago, Chile, from Jan. 12-Feb. 8. The Men’s National Team will play international friendlies against Chile on Jan. 28 in Santiago, Chile, and Panama on Feb. 8 in Carson,Calif. This is the first Men’s National Team call-up for both players.
Entering his fifth season with D.C. United, Kitchen is coming off a 2014 campaign in which he scored a career high five goals and tied a career high with four assists while helping lead United to the Eastern Conference’s top seed in the MLS Cup Playoffs. In four years he has appeared in 125 games (124 starts), scored seven goals and recorded nine assists, and he was named the D.C. United’s Most Valuable Player in 2013. Originally selected from the University of Akron with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft, Kitchen was a MLS Rookie of the Year finalist and became the first rookie in team history to lead the team in minutes played.
Kitchen has extensive youth national team experience, most recently having represented the U.S. with the U-23 National Team in 2012 Olympic qualification. He has also played for the U.S. at the U-17 and U-20 levels. Kitchen competed in the U-17 World Championship in 2009 and the U-20 side in 2011 in the CONCACAF U-20 Championship.
The second overall pick in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft, Birnbaum became a fixture at centerback in the D.C. United lineup, starting the final 21 matches of the season en route to being named a Rookie of the Year finalist. The University of California product helped anchor a defense which finished the year tied for the lowest goals allowed per game (1.09) in Major League Soccer, including a league-fewest 12 goals surrendered at home.
In 2008, Birnbaum competed with the U.S. U-18 and U-20 National Team in tournaments in Portugaland Mexico and was also a member of the U.S. squad that competed against Manchester United in the 2008 Milk Cup Final. He also won a silver medal during the 2012 Pan Am Maccabi games in Brazil.
U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION
GOALKEEPERS (3): Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire), Jon Kempin (Sporting Kansas City), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
DEFENDERS (8): Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Steve Birnbaum (D.C. United),
Christian Dean (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders FC), Jermaine Jones (New England Revolution), Perry Kitchen (D.C. United), Shane O’Neill (Colorado Rapids), Oscar Sorto (LA Galaxy)
MIDFIELDERS (10): Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Mix Diskerud (out of contract), Dennis Flores (Club Leon),
Luis Guil (Real Salt Lake), Miguel Ibarra (Minnesota United FC), Lee Nguyen (New England Revolution), Marc Pelosi (Liverpool FC), Dillon Serna (Colorado Rapids), Brek Shea (Orlando CitySC), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew)
FORWARDS (6): Tesho Akindele (FC Dallas), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC), Julio Morales (Tepic),
Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes), Bobby Wood (1860 Munich), Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy)
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