Less than two weeks after the Milwaukee Wave repeated as Major Indoor Soccer League champions, long-time Wave and US National Futsal coach Keith Tozar announced a camp of 18 players to prepare for the upcoming CONCACAF Futsal Championship July 2-8 in Guatemala. The camp will be held April 1-7 in Torrance, Calif.
The U.S. has won the CONCACAF championship twice, in 1996 and 2004. In 2008, the USA reached the Futsal World Cup but failed to advance out of the group stage. For the first time in the qualifying tournament’s history, CONCACAF will send four teams to the Futsal World Cup in Thailand, being held from Nov. 2-18, 2012. The eight teams will be split into two groups of four teams each. The top two teams from each group advance to the semifinals and earn places at the FIFA Futsal World Cup.
In a very mixed roster, there are a number of veteran indoor and outdoor professional players, including former MLS players Byron Alvarez, Kraig Chiles and Angel Rivillo. They are joined by a handful of players that are local to the home facility of the National Futsal Team in Torrance, a few teenage high school players.
A couple of other interesting players on the squad are Patrick Healey and Lubo Kocic. Healey’s father is the president and general manager of his club team, the Baltimore Blast. Kocic, a member of the Rochester Lancers, has played outdoors in the PDL in Houston and professionally in Puerto Rico in addition to being a participant in the Soccer Aces Academy reality TV show.
Alvarez, however, is arguably the most recognizable name on the list. The forward was a former standout in the USL First Division, making a name for himself as skillful with the ball while with the Portland Timbers.
U.S. Futsal National Team Roster by Position
Name (Hometown / Current Club | Previous Clubs)
GOALKEEPERS (2):
Ryan Oster (Torrance, Calif.)
Daniel Waltman (Gig Harbor, Wash./Missouri Comets | Rockford Rampage, Pittsburgh Riverhounds, Detroit Ignition, Chicago Storm, Yakima Reds, Univ of Washington)
DEFENDERS (4):
Patrick Healey (Nottingham, Md./Baltimore Blast | Crystal Palace Baltimore, Towson Univ.)
Ljubomir Kocic (Metairie, La./Rochester Lancers | Puerto Rico United, Houston Leones, Univ. of Incarnate Word)
Kevin Ten Eyck (Wichita, Kan./Wichita Wings | Friends Univ.)
Nelson Torres (Santa Clara, Calif.)
MIDFIELDERS (8):
Kraig Chiles (San Diego, Calif./San Diego Sockers | LA Legends, Chivas USA, San Diego State Univ.)
Matt Clare (Brandon, Fla./Norfolk SharX | Tampa Bay Rowdies, Bradenton Academics, West Virginia Chaos)
Jeff Hughes (Independence, Ky./Syracuse Silver Knights | Cincinnati Kings, 1790 Cincinnati, Pittsburgh Riverhounds, Wilmington Hammerheads, TSV 1860 Munchen, Univ. of Cincinnati, Western Michigan Univ.)
Casey Macias (Irvine, Calif. / graduating HS this year)
Angel Rivillo (Bala Cynwyd, Pa./Wichita Wings | Philadelphia Kixx, Atlanta Silverbacks, Chicago Fire, Milwaukee Wave, Milwaukee Rampage, Dallas Burn, Creighton Univ.)
Alex Robles (Lynwood, Calif. / graduating HS this year)
Lucas Stauffer (Faribault, Minn. / graduating HS in 2013)
Matthew Stewart (Chicago, Ill./Milwaukee Wave | Rockford Rampage)
FORWARDS (4):
Byron Alvarez (Kansas City, Mo./Missouri Comets | Portland Timbers, Monterrey La Raza, Charleston Battery, Chicago Storm, Portland Timbers, MetroStars, Yakima Reds)
Machel Millwood (Laurel, Md./Baltimore Blast | Crystal Palace Baltimore, Atlanta Silverbacks, Syracuse Salty Dogs, Towson Univ. Prince Georges CC)
Nicolas Perera (San Marcos, Calif./Milwaukee Wave)
Bato Radoncic (Chicago, Ill./Missouri Comets |Chicago Riot, Rockford Rampage, Milwaukee Rampage)
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