More tidbits from the January U.S. camp

CARSON, Calif. -- No news is relatively good news where Oguchi Onyewu is concerned. So says U.S. boss Bob Bradley, who says the initial reports indicate good progress and that he’s on target for a March return. “We feel good about where we are there,” Bradley told me.

I don’t know if Jimmy Conrad will be going to South Africa, but he sure showed up to camp in great shape. The veteran Kansas City center back showed the young guns a thing or two on the first hard fitness run of the January camp, a grueling set of approximately 200 meter intervals. Conrad held up as well as anyone else.

“My goal is to stick around as long as possible and at least make it a hard decision for Bob,” Conrad said. I say: that’s a damn good example of the kind of attitude every national team player should carry.

Chad Marshall, Eddie Gaven and Conor Casey were dragging up the rear on that initial puke-inducer, although I was warned not to read too much into these fitness runs, that some guys just weren’t good at them. In other words, it might bear some reflection on who reported in shape and who didn’t – but then again it might not.

As for scheduling, the United States now appears to be looking at El Salvador instead of Mexico as a February opponent. Regardless of opposition, don’t look for it to be a biggie where World Cup prep is concerned; it’s not a FIFA date, so you won’t see a bunch of the European-based players hot-footing it back across the Atlantic just to appear in a friendly against a CONCACAF opponent.

The federation, meanwhile, continues to look at opponents for pre-World Cup warm-ups. These, unlike the February friendly, will be vital matches.

Outside of the last efforts to develop unit cohesion, and outside of efforts to incorporate any last-minute personnel additions into the main rotation, these might be the only real tuneups available to Onyewu. Even if he returns to training at AC Milan in March, as the current timetable suggests, don’t look for him to leapfrog anyone in the pecking order at the San Siro. He’s sure to find playing time sparse if he gets any at all.

So, where will these games of May be held? Along the East Coast, for sure. It just makes sense, as the team will be leaving from the East Coast. Besides, the World Cup team typically makes at East Coast swing prior to departure.

Which means you can bet that the new Red Bull Arena is in play as a potential venue. (And it should be, as it’s a dandy looking facility.) The options really are fairly limited along the East. These games aren’t about attracting huge crowds, although that would certainly be a bonus. They are about good prep while remaining healthy. Translation: they won’t play on any surface that isn’t 100 percent shipshape for soccer.

Word is that they’ll play two of these here, and then have one more lined up upon South African arrival. The match in South Africa could be closed (as was the last friendly before World Cup 2006) or could be a “gated” match, open to the ticket buying public.