Brad Evans knee injury forces early exit from USMNT camp

Seattle Sounders and US midfielder/defender Brad Evans has ended his stay at January Camp in the worst way possible - early and with an injury. US Soccer reports that Evans was diagnosed with tendonitis in his left knee, prompting his return from US Soccer's National Training Center in Carson. Jurgen Klinsmann called up FC Dallas defender Matt Hedges to fill the roster.

Evans has had an unfortunate injury history with the national team, with a calf strain keeping him out of two World Cup qualifier matches during the MLS season in 2013.

Bad news for Evans is good for Hedges, who gets his first national team callup of any kind. Hedges had another excellent year on Dallas' back line, but as recently as October said he had not had any conversations with Klinsmann about the possibility of playing for him.

Evans will miss most of the camp, which kicked off Jan. 12 and runs through Feb. 8. After missing the World Cup, the trip to Chile for training and a friendly match would have been a time to reestablish himself as a rotational defender on the national squad. There's no word yet on the severity of his tendonitis, but presumably the Sounders captain has sufficient time to heal before Sounders training begins.

In other January camp news, Klinsmann has also added striker Jozy Altidore to MNT camp after Toronto FC announced the completion of the deal that brought Altidore to MLS in exchange for Jermaine Defoe.