Remember all that D.C. United news that you read here for the first time yesterday? Like how United will play preseason friendlies against Malmo FF and the Chicago Fire, and that Jamaican forward Alanzo Adlam would be joining the team on trial in Florida? That was all confirmed this morning via dcunited.com. I’m not usually one to brag, but just in case you were wondering why we asked Benuski to join the team, now you know.
United also announced several changes to the list of trialists in camp, as the team moves to a warmer location down in Sarasota, FL. Forwards Yoni Berhanu, Levi Houapeu, Matt Oduran, and Sainey Touray have been released, as well as midfielders Mike da Fonte and Matthew Kuhn (the team’s fourth round Supplemental pick), and goalkeepers Carl Goody and Will Swaim. Few of these come as a big surprise, although some of us had a slight hope that Houapeu or Touray could catch on as a fourth or fifth forward. There also appeared to be a chance that da Fonte could earn his way onto the team, but this was apparently destroyed by United’s acquisition of Danny Cruz.
Some trialists will be continuing on to the next round of training camp though. Goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra, defenders Jed Zayner and Charles Rodriguez, and midfielders Lance Rozeboom, Seth C’deBaca and Ryan Richter will keep fighting for spots on the roster.
They will be joined by some new faces and some increased competition down in Florida though. In addition to Adlam, the Jamaican forward we told you about yesterday, two more promising players will be on the field. The first is Josh Lambo, a 21-year old goalkeeper who was drafted by FC Dallas in the first round in 2008 but has yet to earn a single minute of game time in MLS. He managed to get a bit of playing time in 2010 when on loan to the Tampa Bay Rowdies, and has also appeared in some reserve matches for Dallas. Lambo has seen time with the U.S. National Team at the U-20 and U-17 levels, and will be in camp with United this week, presumably competing with Dykstra to land a job as the No. 3 goalkeeper behind Bill Hamid and Joe Willis.
The more intriguing name though is Sebastian Svard, a 29-year old Danish midfielder. Svard shined as a youth international for Denmark’s U-17 and U-19 teams, prompting him to join Arsenal’s youth system. From there, Svard became a bit of a journeyman, making appearances with both Copenhagen and Brondby in Denmark, with Stoke City in the English Championship, and with Vitoria of Portugal’s Premier League, before settling down with Borussia Monchengladback of the German Bundesliga. He played in 43 matches over four seasons with ‘Gladback before joining Roda JC of the Eredivisie in 2010. Svard is known mostly as a defensive midfielder, but has also apparently played as a right back. While all this would suggest that Svard could be a promising candidate for United’s already growing midfield, he already trialed with the San Jose Earthquakes and New England Revolution late last year but was not offered a contract. That’s a bad sign. At the least, Svard will provide additional competition for Rozeboom at the CDM spot behind Perry Kitchen for this next stage of training camp.