Goalkeeper Bill Hamid is not the only member of the Black-And-Red in Jurgen Klinsmann's U.S. National Team anymore. Midfielder Chris Pontius was one of two injury replacements called into the 24-man squad for the upcoming friendlies against Costa Rica and Belgium.
Pontius and Birmingham City defender Jonathan Spector will replace defender Zach Lloyd of FC Dallas (right hamstring strain) and Chivas USA defender Heath Pearce (hamstring strain), who have both withdrawn from the squad.
The 24-year-old Pontius has started all of United's 24 league matches so far. He's recorded seven goals and two assists and played a total of 2,041 minutes. The midfielder was previously called up to a 10-day national team training camp under Bob Bradley in February of 2010, but did not make the 18-man gameday roster for an international friendly against El Salvador.
The U.S. team's match against Costa Rica will be held at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California and will kick off at 11:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday night. It will be televised on ESPN2. The match against Belgium will take place at the King Badouin Stadium in Brussels at 2:30 p.m. Eastern time on September 6. That match can be seen on ESPN.