BRADY HENDERSON
Seahawks visited by USMNT players ahead of Copa America match
Jun 14, 2016, 8:03 PM | Updated: Jun 15, 2016, 12:15 pm
The #USMNT meets the @Seahawks. #GoHawks pic.twitter.com/KtBXkSv33m
— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) June 14, 2016
RENTON – With the United States men’s national team in town for its Copa America match later this week, several members attended the Seahawks’ minicamp practice Tuesday. A good time appeared to be had by all as players exchanged jerseys, kicked soccer balls and ran routes afterward.
“It is awesome,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “They are having fun like little kids out here. They are wanting to play catch and throw the ball. You see our guys want to kick the soccer ball and they want to play catch with the football.”
The Seahawks tweeted a photo Monday of USMNT coach Jurgen Klinsmann talking with Carroll at the Seahawks’ headquarters. His team advanced to the Copa quarterfinals with a 1-0 win over Columbia Saturday in Philadelphia and will play Ecuador Thursday night at CenturyLink Field. It sounds like Carroll is going.
“I am looking forward to it,” he said. “I have followed Coach Klinsmann for a long time and we’ve gotten together over the years, back when we were at SC, and it has been really fun for me to follow his coaching and his style and all of that. It is going to be great. They are going against Ecuador to see if they can move on. I am fired up.”
Former Sounders defender and Seattle native DeAndre Yedlin – who is suspended for Thursday’s match due to a red card – was among the USMNT players who attended the Seahawks’ practice. He exchanged a jersey with wide receiver Jermaine Kearse. Quarterback Russell Wilson swapped jerseys with midfielder Jermaine Jones.
The other USMNT players on hand Tuesday, according to a list provided by the Seahawks: Alejandro Bedoya, Steve Birnbaum, John Brooks, Ethan Horvath, Perry Kitchen, Christian Pulisic and Graham Zusi.
