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Sam Stejskal Releases List of Trialists

EDIT: Supplemental draft pick Yannick Salmon and trialists Barry Rice, Ashley McInnes, and Hunter Jarrett are no longer reporting to camp.

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The Fire welcomed a large group of trialists to the Bridgeview Sports Dome today. Sam Stejskal released a list of names here:

*Follow the links for sources and additional information.

Forwards

  • Ashley Mcinnes - 23 year old forward, 2010 First Team All-Conference USA & All-Tournament Team, joined Scottish Aberdeen FC at age 16 - captained youth squad in 2006 and led them to quarterfinals of SPL youth cup. Went undrafted from Tulsa University.
  • Paraskevas Pantazopoulos - 22 year old forward, winner of the open tryout.
  • Fabian Burbano Castillo - As rumored from Colombian Envigado FC (Yessi Mena, who was also rumored to be coming, is on trial with DC United). 19 year old striker/wing midfielder with 3 goals scored in 17 appearances. Also notably received 4 yellow cards.

Midfielders

  • Mike Videira - 25 year old midfielder from AC St. Louis. Drafted in the second round of the 2008 MLS Superdraft by New England. Made 12 appearances for the Revolution and 8 for St Louis last year.
  • Martin Rivas - 19 year old midfielder from Argentina. Preselected for tryouts with Boca Juniors, Lanus, Independiente. Previous tryouts with Philadelphia Union and DC United.
  • Amadou Sanyang - 19 year old midfielder from Toronto FC recently scouted by PSV Eindhoven and two Ligue 1 clubs. Sanyang made 14 appearances in his first full season with Toronto, but was plagued with a concussion that prevented him making any appearances in the second half of the season.

Defenders

  • Yoximar Granados Mosquera - 18 year old speedy right back from Colombian Postobón (Escuela Carlos Sarmiento Lora).
  • Michael Muniz - 21 year old California born center back from Mexican D2 Bravos de Nuevo Laredo. Has played for the Mexico U-20 National squad.
  • Leonardo - the Leo from Galaxy? Brazilian born defender who suffered a left quad injury in training last year that sidelined him for 3 months, never the same since.
  • Nate Weiss - 23 year old American defender from Coral Springs, FL who played with clubs in Spain, Ireland, and Sweden before landing at FK Jelgava in Latvia. There he scored 4 goals in 20 appearances.
  • Barry Rice - 23 year old defender from the University of Kentucky. Chicago Fire Premier product who's contract option was not picked up by DC United at the end of 2010.
  • Pedro Chicarelli - 21 year old Brazilian defender from Rio Claro FC. 1 goal in 5 appearances.
  • Hunter Jarrett - defender from the University of San Francisco class of 09.
  • Eric Ustruck - 26 year old defender waived by Houston Dynamo, joined FC Tampa Bay in April. 5 apperances in 2010.
  • Graham Dugoni - 24 year old defender from Mjøndalen in Norway. 1 goal in 8 appearances.

Goalkeepers

  • Alec Dufty - 23 year old goalkeeper from AC St. Louis. With the 3 goalkeeper requirement, and the recent release of Dykstra (Klopas citing age), Dufty looks to have a great chance to make the roster .
  • Matt Glaeser - 25 year old goalkeeper from Miami FC. Played mostly backup, loaned to FC Tampa Bay.

It appears the Fire are going for youth and taking chances on potential, rather than breaking out the pocketbook and bringing in seasoned veterans for this training camp. It is also likely that the club is looking to fill those low salary, non-budget roster spots that require players to be under 25.

Its not surprising to see so few midfielders invited. It is somewhat surprising that there is an emphasis on defenders over attacking talent. With Anibaba and Gibbs being added to the roster, it seems the forward position is the most urgent at this point. The encouraging news is that Frank Klopas has confirmed the addition of two unnamed international strikers who are waiting on Transfer Certificate paperwork to clear.

In other news, Guillermo Rivera at Fire Confidential is reporting that Mike Banner and Stephen Kinney did not participate in practice due to injury, and Deris Umanzor is rumored to have been sent on loan to Águila in El Salvador.

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