Thursday, December 13, 2007

Randolph Makes National Team Debut

Mike Randolph made his first appearance for the U.S. National Team at any level today when he came on as a second half substitute in the U.S. Under-23's 0-0 draw with China in Changsha. Randolph, who wore the #21 shirt, came on in the 74th minute, replacing Toronto FC defender Marvell Wynne.

We'll have a full conversation with Mike up on the blog later today as we get his views on what he feels like to be in his first-ever National Team camp.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congrats Mike! You were one of the bright spots in a very tough year for us. You definitely deserved your call up.

Anonymous said...

Congrats and best of luck and fortitude to Mike Randolph for making it to the U-23 USA National Squad. I hope that Mike and his US National Teammates will become stronger, better, more experienced players... They all seem like an excellent group of guys. It's so rewarding to see that Soccer (as a sport, past-time, and industry) is finally starting to "pick up steam" in USA. Performing National Squad Duty is an honor, privelege, and responsibility for every national sport player. These individuals should be supported in spirit, in print, and out-on-the pitch.

Next Year (2008) will be a very busy and exciting year for Men's and Women's Soccer for this nation, I feel / foresee. The professionalism, high-standards, and respect for the sport must be kept enforced and accountable. This is even more the case for Major League, First League, and Second League... this is because the training, discipline, and grading learned and instilled here is what transcends and gets portrayed when it comes time for National Squad Duty.

When one respects the game and aspires to be the best at what & how they play on the pitch... their contributions and effect to themselves, their team-mates, the audience, and the coaches become indispensible and attractive.

Love this game... PLAY HARD!!!

Anonymous said...

On a separate topic, I really, really hope that our LA Galaxy gets a solid, committed, talented, fast, and, especially cooperative team squad for 2008 & 2009... Our LA Galaxy desperately needs key positional players on the pitch... The important thing is that the players are ready, willing, serious, and determined to play excellent soccer. And, that they really learn and practice from our new coach and assistant. I am saying all of this and hoping that AEG & Galaxy Management are truly hearing and accepting what I'm saying. It is the collective team that wins games in a season... one must not rely on just any one or two players; the whole team must be powerful, determined, strong, resilient, and fast. Remember, LA Galaxy needs to play superb games and be able to WIN a lot of them... Then only comes the credibility, rankings, and standings. And, only after that can the LA Galaxy be able to promote itself in an international arena. The LA Galaxy Team must remain in top-physical form during the off-season... Practice & Drills must take place... From now till Feb. 2008 is NOT that long of an interval.

Love this game... PLAY W/ HEART & SOUL!!!

Anonymous said...
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Gabe said...

Congratulations Mike! Hope to see him on the full team in the future.

Anonymous said...

Had we hung on to Sturgiss, Finely, Gomez and Ihemelu we could have had 4 more future MNT hopefuls, except we have Klein, Cannon and an embarrassing 'o7 season and no depth on the bench.

Glad Yallop galloped out of town.

Anonymous said...

No new news?? Anything at all? It's been five days - we're bored during the off-season ;) Where's that convo w/ MR?

Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas to the entire LA Galaxy organization (especially to my Joe ... the fine AND amazing one)! Any Joe updates would be
great, by the way.

Anonymous said...

Happy New Year Galaxy AND Happy Birthday to you Joe (and Jon)!!
Miss you guys (especially my Joe) and hope to see updates here soon.