IU’s Bruin chosen for national team roster

Forward Will Bruin parlayed an All-American career at IU into the No. 11 pick of the Houston Dynamo at the 2011 Major League Soccer SuperDraft.

On Sunday, Bruin received a call from the United States Men’s National Team Coach Jurgen Klinsmann, inviting the former Hoosier to a January camp at the National Training Center in Carson, Calif. Bruin is one of 25 players selected to
participate.

“We are very proud and excited for Will,” IU Coach Todd Yeagley said in a press release. “He continues to demonstrate through his play in Major League Soccer that he is one of our premier young players in the U.S. It’s a wonderful honor for Will.”

Bruin said he has eagerly anticipated an opportunity to wear his country’s colors on the pitch. This is the first time in his career he has been called up to the national team roster.

“It is definitely an honor to get a chance to represent your country, and I am really excited for it,” Bruin said in the release. “I think this is a great opportunity and one I’ve been waiting for.”

The team will train together until Jan. 27. Two days later in Houston, it will open the 2013 slate against Canada at BBVA Compass Stadium. The match is a friendly, yet it’s an opportunity for Bruin to earn his first playing experience in a USMNT kit. The match is about two years after the Dynamo drafted the St. Louis native.

In each of those two seasons, Bruin’s Dynamo advanced to the MLS Cup, falling to the Los Angeles Galaxy each time, 1-0 in 2011 and 3-1 in 2012. Though Bruin did not play in the final in 2011, he started the match in 2012.

Bruin’s 12 regular season goals paced his team and placed him in a tie for ninth in the league. As a rookie, he scored five goals.

“It’s probably just experience,” Bruin said in an interview with Soccer America. “Last year was just a huge learning year for me in general. I hit some high points, and I hit some low points. And I’ve learned this year that you can’t be too happy with the things that are going right and can’t get too low if things aren’t going your way. You’ve got to stay level-headed.”

Bruin said he is thankful the Dynamo selected him.

“It was a big relief to hear my name called,” Bruin said in a Jan. 13, 2011, release from IU Athletics. “People were saying Houston might try to get me at No. 7, but I also knew they were interested in Kofi (Sarkodie) too. When they took him I thought it might not happen. Then they executed a pretty good trade and it all worked out for me.”