U.S. Soccer: U-21s to train at ARCO

U.S. national team coach April Heinrichs and U.S. under-21 coach Jillian Ellis will conduct an eight-day training camp at the ARCO U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., from Feb. 18-25 with the U.S. U-21 national team. The coaches will use this camp to choose the majority of the full national team roster for a European tour that includes a friendly match against Italy in Rieti outside of Rome on March 7 and the 2001 Algarve Cup in Portugal, one of the world’s most competitive annual women’s international tournaments. With the U.S. veterans unavailable due to commitments to their WUSA clubs, the rising stars of the national team will get a chance to compete against some of the best teams in the world. Six players from the training camp roster traveled to China with the U.S. in January, playing in a 1-0 loss and a 1-1 tie with the perennial Asian champions. With the bulk of the players for the Algarve Cup expected to come from the U-21 national team pool, Ellis will take an increased role in the day-to-day coaching of the squad during the Italy match and the Algarve Cup tournament. Previously, 12 of the players in this camp have earned caps with the full national team, but the squad will face tremendous challenges against Italy and in four matches at the eight-team Algarve Cup, a tournament the USA has won just once (last year) in six attempts. The Algarve Cup draw will be announced in the near future. U.S. Under-21 National Team ARCO OTC Training Camp Roster