United States 2010 World Cup Daily Update: Oguchi Onyewu’s Worrying Stride, Clint Dempsey On The Virtue Of Elbows To The Face

Central defender Oguchi Onyewu has returned to the national team, a late arrival from Italy were his club, Milan, were finishing-up their Serie A season. Getting in his first work-outs for the Yanks, Onyewu was seen running sprints with “a hitch in his stride:”

Oguchi Onyewu participated in full training with the United States soccer team Thursday, but he had a hitch in his stride as he ran sprints and seemed to be favoring one leg slightly.

If reporters noticed this, though, Onyewu said he had not.

“I don’t feel it,” he said. “I feel fine; I’ve been doing a lot more extensive running than that. I was just doing more fitness at the end.”

Onyewu has been out since October, when he ruptured the patellar tendon in his left knee during the United States’s last World Cup qualifier, against Costa Rica. Despite the layoff, “Gooch” says he does not feel he is playing catch-up:

“Thankfully, I’m at the point right now that I can compete,” Onyewu said. “I’ve been training regularly. I’m game fit right now.”

His first action since the injury will most likely come in a friendly Tuesday against the Czech Republic in East Hartford, Conn., or May 29 against Turkey in Philadelphia.

“I don’t think right now if you watch training you can say I’m behind anyone else in terms of my speed of play or anything like that,” Onyewu said.

“Deuce” also talks about the Latin influence on his soccer development:

Dempsey has been the United States’s European star, but although he remained a crucial part to Fulham FC’s unprecedented success, the U.S. attacker struggled through an injury-riddle campaign, including a cruciate knee injury in January.

Dempsey briefly spoke about his injuries to the Fulham Chronicle, talking about how he chooses to look at the set-backs in a positive light:

”I have to look at my time out in a positive light.

”It gave me a chance to step back from the game and reflect on things, and see what I can improve.

“I was able to hit the gym a little bit, which kept me busy. All in all, it’s been a good experience and made me more hungry.”

Apparently the galeocerdo dejongicus.

Jay DeMerit is now out-of-contract with Watford, with the club saying they can not afford to bring their captain back. That opens all avenues for the U.S. central defender, with one avenue potentially lending him in Major League Soccer for the first time.

As Shawn Francis wrote:

Could the next stop in Jay DeMerit’s career be playing professionally in America for once? “Maybe,” the USMNT said after yesterday’s workout in Princeton. “I think at the moment I am checking all the options and seeing what opportunities are there.”

“I’ve never played at home and never played in the states so those opportunities are now open and it’s just a matter of me seeing what the best option for me is.”