Conrad, Hartman, Espinoza on NTs

Defender Jimmy Conrad, goalkeeper Kevin Hartman and midfielder Roger Espinoza have been called to their respective national teams for January training camps. Conrad and Hartman are two of 30 players to take part in Bob Bradley's camp beginning Jan. 4 to evaluate MLS and Scandinavia-based USA players. Conrad enters camp as the player with the 3rd most caps (27) on the roster. Hartman rejoins the USA setup for the first time since playing the first two games of 2006. Conrad will be looking to make the World Cup squad for his 2nd consecutive tournament, after he played two matches for the Red, White and Blue in Germany 2006.

Espinoza is the only player not based in Honduras to make Reinaldo Rueda's team, as Amado Guevara recently signed with Motagua is his homeland. Espinoza burst onto the scene for Honduras at a similar camp last January before playing an important role in the UNCAF Nations Cup team that earned a place in last year's CONCACAF Gold Cup. You'll recall that Espinoza scored a goal for Honduras in NE the same day that Davy Arnaud scored for the USA and we tied the Revs 0-0 in a crazy-fun tripleheader.

The kicker of all this? USA hosts Honduras Jan. 23 at 8 p.m. CT in a game broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel (English) and Galavision (Spanish). USA and Honduras faced one another four times in 2009, with the USA going 4-0. Both squads have qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, so this is a great opening tune-up for both.