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Two Red Bulls called up to U.S. team’s camp

New York Red Bulls midfielders Dax McCarty and Eric Alexander were two of the 26 players called up to U.S. National Team by coach Jurgen Klinsmann. Alexander and McCarty, integral parts of the Red Bulls winning the first hardware in their history with last season’s Supporters Shield, will report to the U.S. Soccer National Training Center in Carson, Calif., on Monday.

The camp, which runs from Jan. 6-Feb. 1, will be split across two continents. After six days in California, the group moves on to Sao Paulo from Jan. 13-25 for a dry run of next summer’s World Cup in Brazil. Then they return to California, and camp culminates with a Feb. 1 friendly against Korea at the StubHub Center in Carson.

In his first season as a Red Bull, Alexander had a career year. Acquired last offseason from Portland for allocation money, the 25-year-old was the only field player to play in every one of the 34 regular-season tilts. Despite being asked to play largely out of position on the right flank — and as McCarty’s backup in central midfield — he posted career highs in games (34), starts (30), goals (4) and shots (33). He signed a contract extension on Dec. 4.

McCarty, 26, has been a stalwart since being acquired in 2011. He made 30 appearances last year — 29 starts — and had a career-high four goals and four assists as a defensive midfielder. He has five appearances with the U.S. National Team, his debut coming on Nov. 14, 2009 against Slovakia and his last in a 1-1 tie with Chile on Jan. 22, 2011.

Some U.S. team staples are engaged in regular-season action in European leagues. Here is the full U.S. training-camp roster:

GOALKEEPERS (4): Tally Hall (Houston Dynamo), Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)

DEFENDERS (10): Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders FC), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Clarence Goodson (San Jose Earthquakes), Michael Harrington (Portland Timbers), Chris Klute (Colorado Rapids), Chance Myers (Sporting Kansas City), Shane O’Neill (Colorado Rapids), Seth Sinovic (Sporting Kansas City), DeAndre Yedlin (Seattle Sounders FC)

MIDFIELDERS (8): Eric Alexander (New York Red Bulls), Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Mix Diskerud (Rosenborg), Benny Feilhaber (Sporting Kansas City), Luis Gil (Real Salt Lake), Dax McCarty (New York Red Bulls), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)

FORWARDS (4): Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Eddie Johnson (D.C. United), Mike Magee (Chicago Fire), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)