PORTLAND, Ore. — With the season opener 8:30 p.m. Friday at Portland Timbers, Minnesota United FC has released an official roster. It is as follows:
Goalkeepers: John Alvbage, Patrick McLain, Bobby Shuttleworth
Defenders: Francisco Calvo, Justin Davis, Vadim Demidov, Joe Greenspan, Brent Kallman, Jermaine Taylor, Jerome Thiesson, Kevin Venegas
Midfielders: Bernardo Anor, Josh Gatt, Ibson, Miguel Ibarra, Ismaila Jome, Bashkim Kadrii, Collin Martin, Kevin Molino, Mohammed Saeid, Rasmus Schuller, Collen Warner
Forwards: Abu Danladi, Christian Ramirez, Johan Venegas
Would you look at that, Jome was "officially" signed. ;)
Anyhoo, Vadim Demidov is officially captain with Justin Davis serving as vice-captain.
Also, Thomas de Villardi is the one name missing from this list. He's one of the drafted guys being kept on, but United is currently working on his contract. So until that all works out (plus he has a sprained ankle picked up Sunday against San Antonio and will be out for a week) he won't be "officially" on the roster.
How many times can I use the word "officially" in this post?
This also confirms some things we already knew, like that none of the trialists made it onto the team. United retains the rights to sign the other drafted players, Tanner Thompson and injured goalkeeper Alec Ferrell, for a certain amount of time as well.
United does also have 11 international people (Alvbage, Calvo, Demidov, Thiesson, Anor, Ibson, Kadrii, Saeid, Schuller, Danladi and Venegas). A team spokesman confirmed the team traded for another international spot, because as of Feb. 15, United had 10 spots. Each team in MLS can have eight international players unless they trade for more.
