His third cap in four Gold Cup games was extra special for Chris Pontius,
right, in Philadelphia Wednesday. (AP)

PHILADELPHIA >> The roar was pronounced as Chris Pontius readied on the sidelines.

The other two U.S. subs Wednesday night in a 2-0 win over El Salvador in the Gold Cup quarterfinals at Lincoln Financial Field were greeted warmly, for sure. But the passion behind the reception for the Philadelphia Union midfielder was something he noticed right away.

“It was great,” Pontius said. “I had some chants going up for me, too, which was nice as well. It was special for me.”

Wednesday’s appearance was a short cameo, Pontius entering in the 87th minute for Darlington Nagbe, the U.S. well on its way to salting away the win and a berth in the semis. But as Pontius has cemented a spot in the rotation under manager Bruce Arena, this appearance brought something special.

Not that Pontius, who scored 12 goals for the Union last year and is second on the team this season with six assists despite still being in search of his first goal, needed reinforcement that he’s arrived in Philly. He played at an all-star caliber level last year, his first with the Union after seven with D.C. United, the last several blighted by recurrent leg injuries. It helped him return to the U.S. fold after six years in the wilderness.

Wednesday’s rousing welcome reinforced the point.

“That was nice,” he said. “It was definitely special for me. Just to have it here in Philly, it was a great. … I think I settled in pretty well last year. I think you saw that in my play last year. I always said it was credit to the staff and credit to the guys around me because they made me feel at home right away and it was my first time in a professional environment moving teams, so it was tough for me. Philly has welcomed me with open arms.”

Pontius has also settled into a role under Arena. He’s made five appearances this year, two in January friendlies after the offseason camp and now three in four Gold Cup games. He might not yet be at first-choice status for World Cup qualifiers, but he’s an important role player in a tournament like this that requires depth and a certain tactical flexibility.

And he’s got reason to believe his role with the team in the competition isn’t done.

“We did what we needed to do, and still we weren’t as clean as we know we needed to be,” he said. “We just need to improve on all the little things. The name of the game in this is win and move on, and we’ve done that.”

Though disappointed not to get a cap, Union right back
and MLS All-Star Keegan Rosenberry is grateful
for the chance to be in camp with the U.S. National Team
in January. (AP).

PHILADELPHIA >> The setting under the bubble at the University of Pennsylvania’s Dunning-Cohen Champions Field Monday, barely dodging intermittent snow squalls, seemed about as far away from sunny California as one could be.

Regardless of the differing climes, the work rate didn’t change Keegan Rosenberry. Whether competing with members of the U.S. National Team or his Philadelphia Union teammates, the approach seemed constant from the second-year pro.

That degree of consistency is vital for Rosenberry, who’s undergone a whirlwind 13 months, the latest step being the national team call-up from manager Bruce Arena. Rosenberry’s camp ended without a cap, the right back among a handful of players from the 30-plus man squad returned to their clubs ahead of last Sunday’s friendly with Serbia. (Graham Zusi, the converted midfielder, played the full 90 at right back in what appears to be Arena’s experiment du jour, while healthy-again Greg Garza of Atlanta United and debutant Jorge Villafana split time on the left.)

Despite a pang of disappointment, Rosenberry is drawing positives from a significant milestone.

“It was a good experience,” Rosenberry said. “I was happy to be out there. Very honored to get the call and to be a part of it. Obviously disappointed not to be involved in the friendlies, but I think they’re in an interesting situation going into March with the friendlies. I just use it as motivation going forward.”

It was just a year ago that Rosenberry was the rookie in Union camp, the result of a Homegrown Player claim denied by MLS and the Georgetown alum rocketing up the SuperDraft board to bed plucked at No. 3. In the last year, he’s earned an MLS All-Star Game nod, set an unbreakable record as the only rookie to play every minute of a 34-game season and finished second in the Rookie of the Year balloting while winning the league’s Fair Play Award … all while helping the Union make their first playoff appearance since Rosenberry was a high schooler playing on the nascent academy squads.

It’s no wonder that Rosenberry appeared on Arena’s radar, particularly at a position in which Arena’s predecessor, Jurgen Klinsmann, exhibited precious little consistency of selection.
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So, the biggest news from the Union may have come later in the afternoon Tuesday with the trade of Gabriel Farfan to Chivas USA. But manager John Hackworth had plenty to say on a variety of topics in the afternoon. Here are a few quotes that didn't make the cut.


On the extra motivation for Los Angeles:
We’re trying to just manage this three-game stretch in eight days, so our focus has been trying to prepare and recover from Chicago in a short amount of time, but the reality is that they’ll be a little more juiced. I don’t know if it’ll be in the legs, but it’ll certainly be emotional because there’s definitely a little more of a spotlight on you for sure. You’re playing at home, all of those kinds of things. Probably for our team, there’s probably a little bit of a feeling that people don’t give us respect right now, and even when we go and we win games, it doesn’t seem like we’re getting enough credit for it. I think having an opportunity to play LA at home is a really good game to try and make a statement, so I think there will be a little more motivation there for sure.

On the depth of his team:
It’s something we’ve talked about all year is that there were going to be times in the season where we had stretches where whether it was injuries, suspensions, just the number of games coming in a short amount of time where guys were going to get a chance. That proved to be very true Saturday in Chicago, it’ll be that way tomorrow night and I’m sure it’ll be that way against Chicago again.
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