D.C. United announced today that Bill Hamid and Perry Kitchen have been named to the U.S. U-23 Men’s National Team training camp roster. Head Coach Caleb Porter’s squad will convene March 13 to begin final preparations for the CONCACAF Men’s Olympic Qualifying tournament.
The final 20-player roster will be named March 20, the due date for all participating teams to submit their rosters to CONCACAF. The U.S. will compete in Group A, which kicks off March 22 at LP Field in Nashville, Tenn.
"Both Bill and Perry have worked extremely hard and are very deserving of this honor," said D.C. United General Manager Dave Kasper. "We wish them the best of luck in qualifying for the Olympic Games."
Hamid and Kitchen were recently called-up to the U-23 Men’s National Team training camp in Dallas, Texas, which concluded with a match against Mexico on February 26. Both players started in the United States’ 2-0 victory. Hamid and Kitchen were also starters during D.C. United’s 1-0 loss against Sporting Kansas City in the 2012 MLS season opener.
Hamid recently earned his first cap with the full U.S. Men’s National Team when he earned a clean sheet in the team’s 1-0 win over Venezuela in Glendale, Ariz. United’s netminder was called up several times in 2011, serving as Tim Howard’s backup in games against Mexico (Aug. 10), Costa Rica (Sept. 2), Belgium (Sept. 6), Honduras (Oct. 8), Ecuador (Oct. 11), France (Nov. 11), and Slovenia (Nov. 15). In each case, the D.C. United Academy product was on the 18-man roster, but did not see the field. Additionally, Hamid was one of 28 players that Head Coach Caleb Porter called into a training camp in Lakewood Ranch, Fla. that took place December 15-23.
In his second full season with D.C. United, Hamid became the first-choice goalkeeper after recovering from an offseason shoulder surgery. He went on to play 28 matches (28 starts) during the 2011 MLS campaign, putting together a record of 7-9-10 and compiling seven shutouts, while maintaining a goals-against average of 1.39.
Kitchen was recently called-up by Porter for the U-23’s training camp last November in Germany. The young midfielder featured prominently for the U.S. U-20 Men’s National Team in 2011, starting three matches and registering 270 minutes of action to help the team reach the CONCACAF U-20 Championship Quarterfinals. Kitchen was also the captain of the U.S. U-17 National Team residency program and competed in the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Nigeria.
Kitchen was originally selected by D.C. United in the first round (third overall) of the 2011 MLS SuperDraft. He participated in 31 matches (30 starts) for United during his rookie campaign, registering one goal. Kitchen became the first rookie in United’s 16-year history to lead the team in minutes played (2,726) during the 2011 season.
Kitchen previously played under Head Coach Porter at the University of Akron, where the two helped the Zips capture its first-ever NCAA National Championship in 2010.
Roster By Position
GOALKEEPERS (2): Bill Hamid (D.C. United; Annandale, Va.), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire; Lilburn, Ga.)
DEFENDERS (6): Josh Gatt (Molde; Plymouth, Mich.), Perry Kitchen (D.C. United; Indianapolis, Ind.), Ike Opara (San Jose Earthquakes; Durham, N.C.), Kofi Sarkodie (Houston Dynamo; Huber Heights, Ohio), Zarek Valentin (Montreal Impact; Lancaster, Pa.), Jorge Villafaña (Chivas USA; Anaheim, Calif.)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Freddy Adu (Philadelphia Union; Potomac, Md.), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana; Chula Vista, Calif.), Mix Diskerud (Gent; Oslo, Norway), Jared Jeffrey (Mainz; Richardson, Texas), Amobi Okugo (Philadelphia Union; Sacramento, Calif.), Michael Stephens (LA Galaxy; Naperville, Ill.)
FORWARDS (5): Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls; Barnegat, N.J.), Terrence Boyd (Borussia Dortmund; Berlin, Germany), Teal Bunbury (Sporting Kansas City; Prior Lake, Minn.), Joe Gyau (Hoffenheim: Silver Spring, Md.), Brek Shea (FC Dallas; Bryan, Texas)
