For anyone that's followed the development of Wil Trapp from Gahanna Lincoln High School to the Crew Soccer Academy to the University of Akron to the United States U-20 Men's National team to his budding career as a Homegrown Player for Columbus Crew SC, it should come as no surprise that the 21-year-old midfielder has earned his first call-up to the U.S. Men's National Team.
Answering the call from Head Coach Jürgen Klinsmann, Trapp will take part in the USMNT's January camp in Carson, Calif. The camp comes ahead of scheduled friendlies at Chile and against Panama at the StubHub Center in Carson.
The call-up comes on the heels of a standout year for Trapp as the centerpiece in Gregg Berhalter's midfield. Since making his pro debut on July 7, 2013 following a stint sharing duties as captain for the U.S. at the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup, Trapp has started in 44 out of the Black & Gold's 50 matches in that span. All the while, the midfielder has become one of the top young stars in MLS and U.S. Soccer, earning the 2013 U.S. Soccer Young Male Athlete of the Year award.
In preparation for the camp, Trapp looks forward to the opportunity of proving himself in Klinsmann's presence.
"I think it’s just a great opportunity to play in front of Jürgen for the first time, and have him see me in a team environment on a day-to-day basis," Trapp said following the call-up. "[I want to] work hard to hopefully cultivate that young group of guys who are ultimately going to be the core group for the 2016 Olympics."
As Klinsmann stated in his first comments of 2015, the January camp will serve as a launch pad to begin prep for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil. Helping the U.S. qualify after failing to do so for the London Olympics in 2012 is a priority for Trapp.
"Four years ago, it wasn’t an ideal [Olympic] qualifying for the United States," Trapp said. "We don’t want to repeat that. There’s a lot of pressure on our shoulders, but I think we can handle it. I think back to the [2013 U.S. U-20 National Team], the same kind of situation happened. The [2011] U-20s didn’t qualify [for the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup] the cycle before us. We have that same kind of pressure, and I think we can do it."
While his immediate focus is performing well in the USMNT camp, Trapp knows his past form must carry over to the 2015 season for Crew SC if he hope to stay in the National Team conversation.
"The biggest thing with the National Team is you have to have good club form and playing well, and then you get the opportunity with the National Team to perform," he said. "I think my opportunities this year with Crew SC is huge to do well and do well with the team, and our success on the field will ultimately help me in the National Team picture."
