FAMILIAR FACES RETURN
Monday afternoon's training session saw the return of two familiar faces to Black & Gold preseason camp, as 2012 co-leading scorers Jairo Arrieta and Eddie Gaven joined their teammates in Orlando. Arrieta - who has been away on national team duty with Costa Rica since the opening of Crew training camp - was happy to re-join his club side.
"It was very good to train with my teammates for the first time today - it's great to be back and I'm happy to be here in Orlando with the team," said Arrieta on Monday evening.
Head Coach Robert Warzycha wasted little time inserting Arrieta into the fray, as the Costa Rican forward immediately jumped into small-sided games and open competition. He will be available for Wednesday's Disney Pro Soccer Classic clash with Philadelphia (1:00 p.m. ET / TheCrew.com/preseason).
Gaven returned to training camp following the birth of his second child, and he's happy to report that both wife and baby are doing well.
"Everybody is doing well, and everyone is healthy which is the most important thing," said Gaven. "I'm excited to be back with the team now and working towards our first game against Chivas on March 2."
Gaven and his wife have named their newborn son Michael Joseph Gaven.
THE GANG'S (ALMOST) ALL HERE
With the addition of Arrieta and Gaven, Warzycha nearly has his full squad in camp. Only Wil Trap (
U.S. U-20 National Team duty
) and Federico Higuain (
) are not currently in Orlando, while Homegrown player Aaron Horton is now on trial at Sweden's Hammarby following his time in Sarajevo. Higuain returns to Crew camp Tuesday evening and will be eligible to play in Wednesday's match.
"It's the first time we've had almost everybody together. Pipa [Higuain] will be back shortly, and everyone is healthy and pushing each other in competition," said Warzycha after Monday's training session.
He continues, "I think Gaven and Arrieta looked good today, they looked like themselves and they're happy to be here. We're going to try to get better on Wednesday against Philadelphia. It's another exhibition and fitness is going to be a component. We looked good against Toronto, and we're going to try to do the same on Wednesday."
