Minnesota United has landed in Portland and is preparing for a tournament at Providence Park ahead of its 2017 inaugural MLS season. While the weather has been damp and cold, competition and comradery is heating up on the pitch for MNUFC after a successful training trip in Arizona this past week.
Two training sessions down in the Northwest, the club is focused on improving chemistry on the pitch by quick-touch stations, small sided warmups and scrimmages. This Thursday will be a good opportunity to see how MNUFC is coming together for fans who can see the team in action with a match streamed at MNUFC.COM against the Vancouver Whitecaps.
A total of 30 players have been brought in for the Portland tournament, with several new signings joining the squad as well as a handful of trialists. See the full list below:
Goalkeepers:
John Alvbage (signed ahead of 2017 season)
Patrick McLain (signed ahead of 2017 season)
Marco Carducci (trialist)
Defenders:
Brent Kallman (signed ahead of 2017 season)
Francisco Calvo (signed ahead of 2017 season)
Jermaine Taylor (signed ahead of 2017 season)
Joe Greenspan (signed ahead of 2017 season)
Justin Davis (signed ahead of 2017 season)
Kevin Venegas (signed ahead of 2017 season)
Vadim Demidov (signed ahead of 2017 season)
Thomas de Villardi (acquired via SuperDraft)
Alvin Jones (trialist)
Tiago Calvano (preseason invitee)
Midfielders:
Bashkim Kadrii (signed ahead of 2017 season)
Bernardo Anor (signed ahead of 2017 season)
Collen Warner (acquired via Expansion Draft)
Collin Martin (signed ahead of 2017 season)
Ibson (signed ahead of 2017 season)
Johan Venegas (signed ahead of 2017 season)
Kevin Molino (signed ahead of 2017 season)
Miguel Ibarra (signed ahead of 2017 season)
Mohammed Saeid (acquired via Expansion Draft)
Rasmus Schuller (signed ahead of 2017 season)
Tanner Thompson (acquired via SuperDraft)
Raul Gonzalez (trialist)
Eugene Starikov (trialist)
Ismaila Jome (preseason invitee)
Forwards:
Abu Danladi (acquired via SuperDraft)
Christian Ramirez (signed ahead of 2017 season)
Femi Hollinger-Jansen (acquired via Expansion Draft)
MNUFC closed the Portland tournament Feb. 15 against Real Salt Lake before taking its preseason to Florida in its final steps toward preparation for the new season in a new league.
Minnesota United makes its home MLS debut on March 12 at TCF Bank Stadium against fellow expansion side Atlanta United. Fans who want to be there for every home match can join the Itasca Society. Over 10,000 season tickets have already been sold, rapidly approaching the inaugural season limit of 11,842 members in this exclusive club — one for every lake in Minnesota. A portion of all proceeds from these season tickets are donated to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ Loon Monitoring program. Season tickets are available now at MNUFC.COM or by calling 763.4SOCCER. Single match tickets will be available Thursday, February 9 at 10:00 a.m.
