LONDON -- A double rainbow and clear skies welcomed the U.S. national team on to the training pitch at Fulham FC’s Motspur Park on Monday, shortly after a spell of rain (typical!) had passed through south west London.
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Jurgen Klinsmann and has staff put the assembled members of his 25-man squad through their paces in a session which lasted for just over an hour with warm up drills followed by one-on-one finishing exercises and then a small-sided training game to finish.
Plenty of players involved in the MLS playoffs, and Minnesota United’s Miguel Ibarra who was involved in the NASL postseason, will arrive on Tuesday in dribs and drabs ahead of the friendly against Colombia at Craven Cottage on Friday.
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After attending practice and speaking to players, here are some interesting tidbits of news and my observations:
- San Jose Earthquakes forward Chris Wondolowski has been practicing with Fulham’s reserve squad over the past week to keep himself in peak condition following the MLS season.
- Mix Diskerud sat out the training game at the end of practice, played foot tennis instead. He played for Rosenborg on Sunday.
- Geoff Cameron did the warm up and stretching exercises but sat out the rest of practice after playing in Stoke’s 2-1 win over Tottenham on Sunday.
- There was no place for captain Clint Dempsey on the roster as he suited up for the Seattle Sounders in their 0-0 draw with FC Dallas on Monay.
- DeAndre Yedlin, Jermaine Jones, Kyle Beckerman, Lee Nguyen, Nick Rimando, Miguel Ibarra will all arrive on Tuesday after their involvement in the MLS Cup playoffs for Seattle, New England and Real Salt Lake.
- Jozy Altidore, Bobby Wood and DaMarcus Beasley looked sharp in the training game, Altidore crashed in some superb strikes that will do his confidence the world of good.
- Brad Guzan was extremely vocal, while fellow goalkeeper Sean Johnson has started his training stint with PL club Hull City.
ProSoccerTalk will be with the USA in London all week ahead of their game against Colombia at Craven Cottage on Friday. Stay in touch with the latest news, here.