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O'Brien officially selected for U.S. World Cup squad

23 April: U.S. national coach Bruce Arena has revealed his squad for this summer's World Cup tournament in Japan and South Korea. As expected, Ajacied John O'Brien is among the selectees.

"During the last training camp with the U.S. team Arena already told me that I was going to be selected", O'Brien explained to Ajax.nl today. "The World Cup is coming closer and starts really coming to life to me."

Arena is one of the first World Cup coaches to announce his definitive selection. O'Brien says: "I believe he could have waited for another month or so, but it certainly gives you peace of mind now it's already certain. Especially to American clubs. The U.S. league will continue throughout the summer, so for those people it's good to know which players they'll have to miss out on."

Arena's men are due as early as on 01 May, for a North Carolina training camp. This is a problem for O'Brien, since there will still be one Eredivisie game to play for Ajax on that date: the away game at NEC, possibly Ajax' champions' game. On 12 May, Ajax is playing the Amstel Cup final against FC Utrecht.

O'Brien: "In principle, I will join the U.S. team after the cup final over here. However, Arena had an alternative proposal: if we manage to grab the championship a week earlier, I could join the American training camp for a few days and then fly back for the Amstel Cup final. I'm not sure how Koeman thinks about that, though."

In reply to the question whether O'Brien thinks this situation is awkward, the American says: "Awkward? We're running for the championship and the cup. That's not awkward; that's great!"

During the preparation campaign for the World Cup, the U.S. will play three friendly test games, in the last of which The Netherlands is the opponent, on 19 May. O'Brien: "I'll be available for that game. Perhaps I can already play against Uruguay, on 16 May. Maybe I can play 45 minutes of that one."

The first friendly, against Jamaica, takes place on Sunday 12 May, the day of the Amstel Cup final in Rotterdam. O'Brien laughs. "I won't play that one. On that day, I've got some other game to play." (MP)

(Source: Ajax.nl)