Futty Danso, Diego Restrepo lead list of D.C. United trialists

D.C. United today announced their preseason roster, and includes eight trialists and two guest players. With a still unknown amount of roster spots available (due to CBA negotiations), United may keep trialists around for longer instead of letting them try and find other work.

The first place that United needed to address was goalkeeper depth, and so they have brought in three players to vie for the spot behind Bill Hamid and to challenge Andrew Dykstra. Diego Restrepo is a name familiar to many, as he played at the University of Virginia and has trialed/trained with D.C. United in the past. The other two keepers are Richard McCallum, who started for Waterhouse against D.C. United in the Concacaf Champions League, and Riccardo Anedda, a 21-year-old Italian who most recently played in in the fourth level of Italian soccer.

United has brought two defenders with them, both center backs: Mamadou "Futty" Danso and Rauwshan McKenzie. Danso has played for the Portland Timbers and the Montreal Impact, while McKenzie played for the Timbers and Orange County Blues of USL PRO this past season. Rocket Rod Dyachenko and Andrew Driver are the two midfield trialists; according to Steve Goff, Driver was originally not in United's plans but will now have a chance to earn a contract. Finally, David Estrada will also get a chance to earn his way onto the team.

United has also brought two Academy players with them to train with the first team for a bit: Jorge Calix and Eryk Williamson. Calix, a midfielder, is rumored to be the Academy player closest to being ready for a Homegrown deal, and has played with the Honduras U20 team after playing with the US youth national teams previously. Williamson is a midfielder/forward and has played for the US U18 team.