It’s lining up to be a busy offseason for Fire starting goalkeeper Sean Johnson. MLSsoccer.com reported Tuesday the possibility of second-year Fire player joining Manchester United for offseason training and Wednesday, perhaps unsurprisingly, the U.S. Soccer Federation named Johnson to its U23 training camp roster to take place in Duisburg, Germany from November 7-16.
A member of the 2009 U.S. U20 World Championship team, Johnson earned his first senior national team cap this past January, playing 45 minutes as the U.S. drew with Chile 1-1 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, CA. He’s one of four goalkeepers on the 31-man roster, joined by San Jose’s David Bingham, Sporting KC’s Jon Kempin and Ipswich Town youth product Cody Cropper.
Asked about the call up, the 22-year-old keeper was looking forward to taking part in the first U23 camp of the Olympic cycle next week.
“I think it’ll be good, it’s an international break and were getting the guys together to begin the process. I’m excited to be a part of the national team setup and I’m ready to work as we prepare for next year’s Olympic qualifiers.”
The qualifiers Johnson speaks of will take place March of next year in the United States, though specific sites have yet to be determined.
For the first time since Clive Charles led the 2000 Olympic team in Sydney, a college coach will take the reins of the U.S. U23 side after U.S. Soccer announced last month that Akron University head man Caleb Porter would lead the side through the end of the 2012 cycle. Porter, who led the Zips to their first NCAA Men’s national championship in 2010 and has amassed a 103-15-14 record since 2006, will play a dual role between his collegiate responsibilities and that of the U23 side.
“I think it’s exciting to have a fresh face,” Johnson said of Porter. He’s done a great job with Akron obviously -- he’s been unbelievable at the college level. I think all the players are looking forward to working with Caleb, I’m looking forward to meeting him. I’ve only been able to watch what he’s done as a coach with Akron but it’ll be good, he knows how to win games and that’s what we need to do.”
After a brief return to the U.S. following the camp, Johnson’s offseason adventures in Europe will continue as he’s slated to take part in Major League Soccer’s Generation adidas tour for the second-straight year. Last year, Johnson joined Fire teammates Baggio Husidic and Corben Bone on the GA side that downed Reserve teams from Real Madrid, Rayo Vallecano and Atletico Madrid. This year the Generation adidas team heads back to Europe to take on some of the top clubs in Holland at the beginning of December.
With a pending training stint at Carrington to follow, Johnson recognizes that balancing the extra work with rest will be key to be sharp for the 2012 season.
“To be honest I’ll get the rest I need but I think just staying active rolling into next season, I’ll manage my body in order to come in fresh. Part of that is sitting down with [Fire goalkeeping coach] Aron Hyde to make sure I’m getting the time off that I need. I’m typically a very active person, it’s hard for me to sit still so it may take some help from the coaching staff to plan when I need to rest and what I need to do nutritionally in order to take care of my body in the offseason.”
As for the club’s three-week postseason training camp, the U.S. international is positive about getting extra training in before departing for U23 camp on Sunday.
“A few guys have been getting ready to go away on national team trips over the break so its good for everyone. It’s one-hundred percent beneficial for me. It’s always good to get in the practice environment and it keeps me fresh going into an important camp with the 23s. I’m fortunate enough to have my teammates out here with me, everyone’s playing hard. It’s definitely good to have guys still fighting everyday in training even after we didn’t make the playoffs.”
Jeff Crandall is the Team Writer for the Chicago Fire. Follow him on Twitter @JefeCrandall.
