MLS Real Salt Lake

Pope named to USMNT 2006 World Cup roster

Published on May 2, 2006 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


SALT LAKE CITY (Tuesday, May 2, 2006) - Real Salt Lake DF Eddie Pope was named to the U.S. Men's National Team's 23-man roster announced today by Head Coach Bruce Arena on ESPN's SportsCenter. The selection marks Pope's third trip to the FIFA World Cup Finals after being named to the USMNT roster in 1998 (France) and 2002 (Korea/Japan). In his USMNT career, the 32-year old Pope has earned 78 caps with 8 goals as the anchor of the defense. The Rocky Point, N.C. native notched his eighth career U.S. goal in the 5-0 rout of Norway on January 29.

Pope and his RSL teammate, Costa Rican MF Douglas Sequeira, play their final home match for Real Salt Lake prior to reporting to their respective national team camps this Saturday, May 6 at 7:00 p.m. MT at Rice-Eccles Stadium against the Columbus Crew. While Pope will report to the USMNT camp on May 10, Sequeira will be available for the RSL's road clash with the Los Angeles Galaxy at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. on Saturday, May 13 at 8:30 p.m. MT, live on Fox Sports Net Utah.

The U.S. men begin preparations for Germany on May 10 in Cary, NC. The team will play three games leading up to their first match versus the Czech Republic on June 12. The U.S. will face Morocco in Nashville, Tenn. on May 23, Venezuela in Cleveland, Ohio on May 26 and Latvia on May 28 in East Hartford, Conn. All three games will be broadcast live on ESPN2 and tape-delayed on Telemundo.

RSL MF Chris Klein narrowly missed selection by Arena today, instead being named as one of 13 alternates for the 2006 squad which will travel to Germany. Klein notched two goals and two assists for the U.S. through six games in 303 minutes of play for the MNT in 2006. The 30-year old tallied a goal and two assists to lead the U.S. to a 4-0 rout over Guatemala on February 19 while earning man of the match honors, and also scored in the in the 5-0 win over Norway on February 29.

The U.S. departs on June 1 for Germany, playing their opening match of Group E against the Czechs in Gelsenkirchen on June 12 before meeting Italy in Kaiserslautern on June 17 and then finishing off the initial group stage against Ghana on June 22 in Nuremberg. The U.S. has chosen the northern port city of Hamburg as their national team base throughout the quadrennial tournament. The U.S. will submit its 23-man roster to FIFA on May 15.

NOTE TO MEMBERS OF THE MEDIA: Eddie Pope, Douglas Sequeira, Chris Klein and John Ellinger will be made available to the media on Wednesday, May 3, following practice at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Practice is expected to run from 10:00-11:30 AM MT.

The full team includes the following:

Goalkeepers (3) - Marcus Hahnemann (Reading FC), Tim Howard (Manchester United), Kasey Keller (Borussia Mönchengladbach)

Defenders (8) - Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Cory Gibbs (ADO den Haag), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Eddie Lewis (Leeds United), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Eddie Pope (Real Salt Lake)

Midfielders (8) - DaMarcus Beasley (PSV Eindhoven), Bobby Convey (Reading FC), Clint Dempsey (New England Revolution), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids), John O'Brien (Chivas USA), Ben Olsen (D.C. United), Claudio Reyna (Manchester City)

Forwards (4) - Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Wizards), Brian McBride (Fulham FC), Josh Wolff (Kansas City Wizards)

U.S. Men's National Team Alternates List - 2006 FIFA World Cup

Goalkeepers (2): Tony Meola (New York Red Bulls), Matt Reis (New England Revolution)

Defenders (3): Chris Albright (Los Angeles Galaxy), Gregg Berhalter (Energie Cottbus), Todd Dunivant (Los Angeles Galaxy)

Midfielders (5): Chris Armas (Chicago Fire), Chris Klein (Real Salt Lake), Pat Noonan (New England Revolution), Steve Ralston (New England Revolution), Kerry Zavagnin (Kansas City Wizards)

Forwards (3): Conor Casey (FSV Mainz), Chris Rolfe (Chicago Fire), Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution)

The schedule for the U.S. MNT 2006 international friendlies and the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany group-play matches follows:

Day Date Matchup Time (MT)/Results LOCATION

Sun. Jan. 22 Canada T 0-0 Torero Stadium, San Diego, Calif.

Sun. Jan. 29 Norway W 5-0 Home Depot Center, Carson, Calif

Fri. Feb. 10 Japan W 3-2 SBC Park, San Francisco, Calif.

Sun. Feb. 19 Guatemala W 4-0 Pizza Hut Park, Frisco, Texas

Wed. March 1 Poland* W 1-0 Fritz-Water-Stadio, Kaiserslautern, Germany

Wed. March 22 Germany* L 1-4 Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, Germany

Tues. April 11 Jamaica* T 1-1 SAS Park, Cary, N.C.

Tues. May 23 Morocco* 5:00 p.m. The Coliseum, Nashville, Tenn.

Fri. May 26 Venezuela* 5:00 p.m. Cleveland Browns Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

Sun. May 28 Latvia* 5:00 p.m. Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Conn.

Mon. June 12 Czech Republic # 10:00 a.m. FIFA World Cup Stadium, Gelsenkirchen, Germany

Sat. June 17 Italy# 1:00 p.m. Fritz-Water-Stadio, Kaiserslautern, Germany

Thurs. June 22 Ghana# 8:00 p.m. Frankenstadion, Nuremburg, Germany

*All games televised live on ESPN2 #2006 FIFA World Cup Germany

JERRY SEINER / RSL COACHES SHOW ON KALL 700 AM: RSL invites fans to join RSL players, coaches and front office staff at the Jerry Seiner Salt Lake dealership's Iceberg Café located at 1530 South 500 West every Thursday for the weekly "Jerry Seiner/RSL Coaches Show" at 6:00 p.m. MT. The KALL 700 Bill Riley Show will broadcast LIVE each week at Jerry Seiner Salt Lake from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. MT, with Coach Ellinger and RSL personalities featured during the final hour.

Each week, fans can compete against players, coaches and each other in the X-BOX FIFA 2006 Challenge. Supporters will compete to qualify to play in the Carnival Real X-BOX competition at every home game, where an X-BOX will be given away to the most outstanding player. RSL's 2006 X-BOX FIFA Challenge occurs at prior to each home game in Carnival Real.

2006 RSL TICKET PACKAGES ON SALE: RSL 2006 ticket packages are on sale and fans can now purchase full season, half season, the "High-Five" pack and flex season by visiting the RSL Ticket Office at 515 South 700 East, #2R, SLC, UT 84102, by logging onto www.RealSaltLake.com or by contacting the Real Salt Lake Ticket Office at (866) 9-SOCCER. Fans can also purchase single-game tickets by visiting the Utah Ticket Office at 451 South 1400 East, by logging onto www.UtahTickets.com or by contacting the Ticket Office at (801) 581-UTIX. Finally, fans can purchase The KFC Colonel's Corner $12 ticket voucher, the club's most affordable single-game ticket, by visiting any of the 36 KFC® restaurants in Utah.

REAL ELITE TRAINING PROGRAM: The Real Elite Training Program, presented by Fox Sports Net Utah, is a progressive summer training program for boys and girls ages 8-16 with previous playing experience and a strong desire to reach their maximum potential. There are a total of 18 sessions, three days a week, and two and a half hours per day. The benefits of the program include: exposure to the highest level of training; specializing in technique, tactic, fitness and teamwork; training from RSL soccer players and coaches; and two training shirts and ticket voucher to a select game. For more information, contact Teresa Nelson by phone at (801) 924-8565, by email at tnelson@RealSaltLake.com or by logging onto http://real.saltlake.mlsnet.com/MLS/rsl/player_development/.

MLS CAMPS: The Official Camp and Clinic of Major League Soccer is NOW the Official Camp & Clinic of Real Salt Lake! NEW for 2006, Fantasy Camp and focused Team Training experiences. To find out more about all of RSL's Youth Development Programs, call Scott Reynolds at (801) 924-8575 or by email at SReynolds@RealSaltLake.com. To partner with RSL to host MLS Camps in your community, call us today.

ACCESS REAL: Real fans can now receive up-to-date information on the team by signing up for the RSL Weekly Newsletter on our website at http://real.saltlake.mlsnet.com/MLS/rsl/fans/.

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Major League Soccer Stories from May 2, 2006


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