The 20-year-old Yedlin was given his first call up to the senior squad by USMNT head coach Jurgen Klinsmann.
The meteoric rise of DeAndre Yedlin continued its steep climb on Friday when the 20-year-old Sounders FC defender was invited to the U.S. National Team’s January camp, along with Seattle teammate Brad Evans, as Head Coach Jurgen Klinsmann begins the final stages of preparation for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Yedlin and Evans are joined by 23 other Major League Soccer players in the 26-man camp, with Mix Diskerud from Norway’s Rosenborg the lone player from outside of MLS. Camp runs from January 6 to February 1 and includes a 13-day stint in Sao Paulo, Brazil, for 23 of the players, getting an early look at the hotel and training facility that the U.S. will use in the World Cup in June. The camp concludes with a friendly at the StubHub Center against South Korea on February 1.
The 20-year-old right back, Yedlin previously played four matches with the U.S. U-20 National Team, including all three matches in the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey last June. Yedlin played 31 matches in his rookie season after becoming Sounders FC’s first Homegrown Player signing. He was also the first rookie to be named to the MLS All-Star team since 2005 and finished third in Rookie of the Year voting.
Three players from the U-20 World Cup squad earned invites, with Colorado Rapids defender Shane O’Neill and Real Salt Lake midfielder Luis Gil joining Yedlin.
Meanwhile, Evans is becoming a veteran of U.S. camps. He started in nine of his 10 appearances in 2013, helping the U.S. finish atop the Hexagonal Round standings to earn a berth in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. He had one goal – a stoppage-time winner in Jamaica – and two assists while earning the starting role at right back.
The 28-year-old is readying to start his sixth season with Sounders FC and eighth in MLS. He has 22 goals and 21 assists in 142 career appearances in league play and 16 caps for the U.S. National Team.
Other local connections to the team include former Sounders forward Eddie Johnson and Houston goalkeeper Tally Hall, a Gig Harbor native. Additionally, former Sounders FC goalkeeper and current Seattle broadcast analyst Kasey Keller will serve as goalkeeper coach on the two U.S. legs of training camp.
The full roster includes goalkeepers Tally Hall (Houston Dynamo), Bill Hamid (DC United), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire) and Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake); defenders Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders FC), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Clarence Goodson (San Jose Earthquakes), Michael Harrington (Portland Timbers), Chris Klute (Colorado Rapids), Chance Myers (Sporting Kansas City), Shane O’Neill (Colorado Rapids), Seth Sinovic (Sporting Kansas City) and DeAndre Yedlin (Seattle Sounders FC); midfielders Eric Alexander (New York Red Bulls), Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Mix Diskerud (Rosenborg), Benny Feilhaber (Sporting Kansas City), Luis Gil (Real Salt Lake), Dax McCarty (New York Red Bulls) and Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City); and forwards Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Eddie Johnson (DC United), Mike Magee (Chicago Fire) and Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes).
