Steve Birnbaum is growing up. He’s done so quite literally each of the past three years at January Camp.
Having celebrated his 26th birthday on Monday, the Newport, Calif., product is now accustomed to spending the first month of the year with the U.S. Men’s National Team, which in turn has allowed him to be close to friends and family on his anniversary of life.
“It’s nice. I’m back in California, I got to see my family,” Birnbaum said Monday. “Last night we went to a nice dinner and it’s been great. I love California and getting to have my birthday out here and seeing my friends all the time.”
Birnbaum made his international debut nearly two years ago in a 3-2 defeat against Chile, but made his first real mark for the MNT during 2016 January Camp when his 90th minute header handed the U.S. a late 3-2 victory against Iceland. The following week, he played the full 90 minutes in a 1-0 victory against Canada.
The two performances put the D.C. United defender in line for his World Cup Qualifying debut when he started last March’s 4-0 victory against Guatemala, and later a spot on the MNT’s Copa America Centenario roster.
Taking part in his 3rd #JanuaryCamp, @StevenBirnbaum talks growing into a leadership role on the #USMNT backline: https://t.co/Wz1feSSvUlpic.twitter.com/BJbjS86AZ7
— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) January 24, 2017
A poster child for January Camp success, Birnbaum credited familiarity with players and the extended look each gets for helping him the past two years.
“A bunch of the MLS guys are here, so it’s people you know from around the league and they’re easy to play with,” he said. “It’s a month-long camp, so there’s a good amount of time to show what you can do as well before you have the two games. I got lucky last year to be able to play in the games and obviously to score the goal was a great jumpstart for my year.”
Well into his third January Camp, Birnbaum has grown by leaps and bounds as a defender and currently finds himself as the most-established center back on head coach Bruce Arena’s roster.
“Coming into this camp I feel like a little bit more of a leader as a center back,” he said. “I’ve been trying to take a little bit more of a leadership role on the back line this time.”
Now two weeks into the current camp, Birnbaum is relishing the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow; in this case, the team’s upcoming friendlies against Serbia (Jan. 29 in San Diego) and Jamaica (Feb. 3 in Chattanooga).
“You’re always looking forward to the games,” he said. “That’s really what you’re here for, to play those two friendly games. You kind of get sick and tired of practicing constantly and playing against your own teammates, so playing against an actual team is great.”
