D.C. United announced today that Bill Hamid has been called-up to the U.S. Men’s National Team for two friendly matches in January. Hamid will join the U.S. Soccer Federation from January 3 – 26, 2012. The USMNT will face Venezuela in Glendale, Ariz. on January 21 and Panama in Panama City on January 25.
Jurgen Klinsmann’s players report for training on January 3 in Phoenix, Ariz. The team will then relocate to U.S. Soccer’s National Training Center at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. to continue preparations from January 13-20 before returning to Arizona. The United States is set to host Venezuela at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. on January 21. Four days later the squad heads to Panama, where it will play a friendly at the Estadio Rommel Fernandez in Panama City.
Hamid recently completed a training stint in England with West Bromwich Albion. Following his time with the Barclays Premier League club, the United goalkeeper was called-up to the senior U.S. Men’s National Team for a pair of friendly matches against the French and Slovenian National Teams. Hamid was on Jurgen Klinsmann’s bench for the 1-0 loss against France on November 11 and a 3-2 victory over Slovenia on November 15.
Hamid was called-up to the senior U.S. Men’s National Team four times in 2011, becoming the first-choice back-up goalkeeper to Tim Howard. The United netminder earned his first call-up for the United States’ 1-1 draw with Mexico on August 10 and was again on the bench for a pair of 1-0 losses to Costa Rica on September 2 and Belgium on September 6. Hamid earned his third call-up for two friendly matches against Honduras and Ecuador on October 8 and 11, respectively. The D.C. United Academy product was on the 18-man roster during the 1-0 victory against Honduras, but did not see the field.
In his second full season with D.C. United, Hamid became the first-choice goalkeeper since he recovered from an offseason shoulder surgery. He played 28 matches (28 starts) during the 2011 MLS campaign, putting together a record of 7-9-10 along with seven shutouts.
In 2010, Hamid became the youngest goalkeeper in MLS history to win a League contest on May 5 against Kansas City in a 2-1 victory at RFK Stadium, beating the previous record held by fellow U.S. Men’s National Team player Tim Howard. Hamid made United history on September 2, 2009, when he became the first D.C. United Academy player to sign with the first team. As the first player to come up through the club’s youth system, Hamid was only available for non-League games during the 2009 season and did not see any playing time.
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