U.S. Soccer announced that LA Galaxy goalkeeper Brian Rowe is replacing Stefan Frei at the annual January training camp. The Seattle Sounders stalwart was “diagnosed with a right ankle sprain on Friday.”
This is Rowe’s first call up to the senior national team. The 28-year old made 31 appearances last season. He had a league-best 1.10 goals against average and led the Galaxy to a 12-4-14 record.
It’s an unfortunate turn of events for Frei. The Switzerland-born keeper recently led the Sounders to the MLS Cup with a standout performance in the final, making seven saves in regulation and another in the penalty shoot out. U.S. manager Bruce Arena recently praised Frei’s consistency and claimed that his play has been “pretty damn good.”
There are currently four goalkeepers at the National Training Center in Carson, California: Rowe, David Bingham (San Jose Earthquakes), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake), and Luis Robles (New York Red Bulls). D.C. United’s Bill Hamid was forced to drop out of camp due to a knee injury.
The USMNT plays Serbia on January 29th in San Diego, California and Jamaica on February 3rd in Chattanooga, Tennessee.