Minnesota Stars Kick Off Preseason Training with Familiar and Unfamiliar Faces; Joe Warren Un-retires and Re-signs

The NSC Minnesota Stars got off to an early start on Monday morning with a 2-hour training session starting at 8:00 a.m. That was followed with a 1:30 p.m. training session. The two-a-day’s will be the schedule for the week.

Yesterday found about 30 players in camp with a few more who will float in over the next week.

“I like the core group that are coming back,” said defender/midfielder Kyle Altman after yesterday’s second training session of the day. “There’s also a lot of new talent coming out with some new signings that look promising. There’s a few guys in camp here who I played against last year. It’s good to see the Stars committed to bringing in quality players to help us guys who were on the team last season.”

Altman was asked if he will shift back to midfield this season, his natural position, or play defense again this year after excelling as a center-back last season. “I’m 99% sure I’ll be playing in the center-back position again this season,” responded Altman. “I like playing midfield because I’m involved in the play a little bit more but it’s a new role, a new position that I’m trying to take on and make it my own.”

Devin Del Do

Devin Del Do said he felt the first day of training went well. The Stars forward said he decided to take some time off after the season to really let his knee heal after several surgeries and some major rehab before coming back to the team late in the year and helping Minnesota make it to the playoffs. “Once the new year came I started getting back into shape. I started running and lifting. I decided to come back to Minnesota about a month ago from my home in California. I’ve been here training with the guys for the last month so I could be ready to go for preseason.”

I do believe the core that he (Manny Lagos) brought back are good strong group of guys who are going to help push the new guys coming in to another level. It will also be interesting to see the chemistry of how the new guys fit in with this core group.

Defensive midfielder Kentaro Takada said he was happy to see some familiar faces he hadn’t seen for a while. “I had a lot of fun today and I was very happy to see all my old teammates and my coaches. I’m really looking forward to the new season,” said Takada. “Last year I didn’t know anyone. Now I know how my teammates, how they play, and they are my also friends. My English is also getting much better so I can have conversations now so I’m coming into the season much more confident.”

At training yesterday and returning from last year were 15 players: Ely Allen, Kyle Altman, Simone Bracalello (nursing sore back), Chris Clements, Brian Cvilikas, Devin Del Do, Kevin Friedland (player/coach), Andrei Gotsmanov (not yet renewed contract), Neil Hlavaty (working out final details of new contract), Brian Kallman (not yet renewed contract), Geison Moura, Lucas Rodriguez, Kentaro Takada, Matt Van Oekel and Joe Warren.

The Stars also had some new faces in camp. Some of those players are not new to the league and seem to fill in gaps that Lagos needs to fill, especially after losing centerback Andres Arango to FC Tampa Bay. New players in camp were: Wedson Anselme, Miguel Bonilla, Jeff Cosgriff, Justin Davis, Sandy Gbandi, David Gbemie, John Gilkerson, Adam Howarth, Andy Lorei, Prince Monyan, Sebastian Navarez, Tino Nunez, Tom Parratt, Daniel Scott, Jack Stewart, Suker, Alexandre Sumyk, Amani Walker, Ryan Woods.

Players of note are:

Jeff Cosgriff: A 23-year-old (rumored to be signing) from AC St. Louis who, as one player stated yesterday, was a handful to defend against last season. He had 2 goals and 1 assist as an attacking midfielder last season in 24 games played.

Sandy Gbandi: A 27-year-old Liberian midfielder who has made 76 appearances with 6 goals for the Puerto Rico Islanders were he has played since 2008.

John Gilkerson: A 25-year-old defender from Virginia who was originally with the Red Bulls in 2008, was loaned to the Richmond Kickers and since then has made 37 appearances for the Carolina RailHawks.

Tino Nunez: A  26-year-old forward/midfielder who played with Real Salt Lake in 2008-09 making 12 appearances with 1 goal. He played for the Harrisburg City Islanders in 2009 when he was on loan and made 5 appearances. Last season he played for the Rochester Rhinos and made 15 appearances with 2 goals.

The Stars also announced that Joe Warren has come out of retirement again to join the Stars for yet another season.

Warren had not played pro soccer for 4 years coming into last season and had a lot of catching up to do early in the season. Warren was already looking sharp on Monday’s training sessions, particularly in the afternoon session where the team was working on finishing drills.

“There was a lot of ground to make up last year. This year, I think I can get a lot more out of the season, and as a team we’re ready to build on what’s in place and are excited to see the new faces and how they’ll fit in here,” Warren said.

Warren, who is affectionately called Papa Joe by his teammates because he has two daughters, told me last week that he really had thought he had retired for good. But head coach Manny Lagos coaxed him out of retirement and offered him a deal that was hard to refuse.

The league has seen several prominent goalkeepers retire or move out of the league this season which will make a senior goalkeeper with experience like Warren all the more valuable.

“Joe and I have a great relationship, and I can sit down and talk to him about soccer. I called Joe and we talked about whether the drive was still there, and I felt like Joe could still bring a lot to the team,” Lagos said. “His presence here means a lot, not just on the field and in goal, but his leadership and the example he sets in training for how to be a professional.”

The Stars will continue their two-a-day workouts through the week at the NSC and fans are welcome to come and watch.

This weekend Stars fans are also invited to watch two scrimmage games they have set up against Shattuck-St. Mary’s Academies USSF Developmental Academy U-18 team in Faribault, Minn., at 11:30 a.m.

The Stars will then play the Minnesota Thunder U-18 USSF Development Academy team on Sunday morning at 9:30 at the Augsburg Dome at Augsburg College in Mpls., MN.