The USA's three-week training camp, which included Saturday's 1-0 win over Venezuela, concluded Wednesday with a 1-0 win at Panama. And although
Jurgen Klinsmann wouldn't reveal which of the players tested would return to the squad when it includes its regulars, he was pleased
with the year's first gathering.
"I don’t think it would be right at this point to name players," Klinsmann said. "We had a very good
look at all of them. Everyone came in from a different background and a different environment. What we did in these last three weeks was get a really
good picture. The reason why we need these camps, scrimmages, and games is to get a sense of them so we can help them take the next steps.
"Overall, everyone in this camp gave everything they had, which was wonderful to see. Their willingness to learn, their willingness to suffer, and
to come down to this environment after the Venezuela game was something we needed to see. We needed to see who could suffer. It was a good response,
and when they went down a man they suffered even more. These are important things we want to see, and they gave us a lot of responses to our
questions. Now we are trying to give everybody feedback on where we see them.”
Regarding defender Geoff Cameron's
ejection early in the second half against Panama, Klinsmann said: "For me, from that perspective it was difficult to tell. You might see it better on
TV. No matter what, you take it the way it is. You can’t change it anyway. The team did well after that. We had to switch to a 4-4-1, which
didn’t give us enough power to get into their box and create chances for ourselves. The way they executed in the last half hour from a tactical
perspective was very good. They calmed the game down and controlled possession. They deserved the win at the end of the day.”



James Froehlich


