Photo by ISIphotos.com
Sebastian Lletget is healthy enough to join the U.S. Under-23 national team after all.
Lletget was called into U-23 camp by coach Caleb Porter after initially being left off the roster, which was released last week. Sources had told SBI that Lletget was recovering from a broken nose and a concussion, with the latter keeping him out of action. A day after the roster was announced, though, the 19-year-old midfielder appeared in a game for the West Ham reserves.
According to U.S. Soccer, Lletget will join camp on Feb. 25, four days before the friendly against the Mexico Under-23 national team at FC Dallas Stadium.
The current batch of U.S. U-23s, who are training in Frisco, Texas, ahead of the friendly, will face FC Dallas in a scrimmage slated for 11 a.m. today, pitting winger Brek Shea against his club team. They'll face the NASL's San Antonio Scorpions in another scrimmage on Friday.
Here are a few more stories from around the soccer world:
TEVEZ APOLOGIZES TO MAN CITY
Carlos Tevez is taking the steps to mend the fences and repair the bridges between himself and the powers that be at Manchester City in hopes of returning to the playing field.
The much-maligned Argentine forward issued an apology on Tuesday, saying in a statement, ''I wish to apologize sincerely and unreservedly to everybody I have let down and to whom my actions over the last few months have caused offense. My wish is to concentrate on playing football for Manchester City Football Club."
In addition to his apology, Tevez withdrew his appeals for the fines levied on him by the club, and between fines and lost wages, Tevez' five-month stretch of inactivity has cost him about $17 million.
OLYMPIC STADIUM FIELD NOT UP TO EPL STANDARDS
The Olympic Stadium in London has been at the center of a heated battle between clubs wishing to call the new arena its home, but there is one major problem – the field is not up to Premier League standards.
According to the Associated Press, the stadium was built without the proper heating system under the field, one that is standard for Premier League stadiums to keep the field in usable shape. Instead, the field must be torn up and a new one put down after the Olympics. The Olympic Park Legacy Company will have to pay for the new field to be installed with public taxpayer money in order for the stadium to be in shape to be rented to a Premier League club starting in 2014.
START OF INDIAN LEAGUE POSTPONED
The new Indian soccer league featuring the likes of Fabio Cannavaro, Hernan Crespo, Robert Pires, Santino Quaranta and other known commodities has had the start to its inaugural season postponed because of an inability to secure the stadiums organizers thought they would have. As a result, organizers have been unable to upgrade the quality of the fields to where it needs to be for games to be played, as well. Even so, organizers are projecting about a month's postponement and not a cancellation of the season.
"These are minor issues and PLS is very much on," Dharamdutt Pandey, CEO for the organization that created the league, told Reuters. "We are now targeting a mid-April start for the league. It would require at least one month to upgrade the stadiums to an international standard."
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Happy to see Lletget included with the U-23s? What do you make of Tevez' apology? What's your take on the Olympic Stadium situation? Were you interested in the new Indian league?
Share your thoughts below.
Maybe in a few years, his call ups for this camp are over.
Probably because they’re leading the second division. No need to put in an untested kid in the mix when you’re leading the race to the Prem with your current crop of players. Also, no need to knock the Championship. Still a quality league.
I think rowe would be better in the number 10 role
It is great to have the U-23s play against some MLS squads to get in some game times.
Fans will come out to watch a “match” and support their club AND the US guys so it should be a good crowd and a great chance to test some of the younger players.
It should be easier to get the U-23 guys together in a camp and MLS matchup then our full A-team so the more they can play together the better it will be for their development on their own as well as making it easier to get them ready for the full A-team camps.
why hasn’t he made any first team starts for west ham?
i don’t want to down play his skill, but they are in the second division
It’s only the pitch that’s not up to standards and will need replacing, not the whole stadium. Still a waste, but not the waste you make it out to be.
Smart move. Lletget is one of the few Americans with the passing ability, and goal scoring instincts, who can make the 4-3-3 work. He’s probably the best candidate for the #10 position.
Holy waste of taxpayer money. Let’s build a football stadium and immediately tear it down because we didn’t bother making sure it’s up to EPL standards – despicable.
Tevez is a whiner and acts unprofessionally, thats well known. However, Man City should share some blame. PSG and Inter both made reasonable offers for Tevez which were rejected. Man City has to realize they’re not going to get top dollar on a 28 year old player that causes alot of trouble.
Lletget is a star in the making. It will be great watching him in the coming years
Will the U-23 vs Dallas game be online anywhere?
I think it’s more about the paycheck than anything else. Mancini would be wise to sit his butt but from Tevez’s perspective he doesn’t get paid while he sulks in his mansion. If he shows up they have to take practical action, either deposit the cash in the account or ship him off somewhere. Tevez is not bright enough for chess but this is a checkers or Battleship move or something. Now Man City has to figure out if they let him on the premises, on what terms, or if they just fight the whole thing and risk being forced to pay up.
I completely agree.
I really hope Tevez does come back and disrupts City’s title run. There is no way Dzeko, Aguero and Balotelli are going to be happy if Tevez plays at all. I would be pissed if someone who refused to play with the team for three months all of the sudden comes back and starts taking my minutes. Should be interesting…