Cameron Ready for Call-Up

Dynamo defender Geoff Cameron was back in his home state on Saturday playing against the team he grew up watching - the Revolution. (Photo: Chris Aduama/aduama.com)

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Attleboro (Mass.) native Geoff Cameron knew from a young age that he wanted to be a professional soccer player.

Growing up just a stone’s throw from Foxborough, the young Cameron got all the inspiration and motivation he needed by watching his hometown Revolution.

Fast forward through high school and a sterling college career with University of Rhode Island that included an NCAA tournament run and getting named Midfielder of the Year, Cameron found himself back in his home state on Saturday playing center back for the the defending Eastern Conference champion Houston Dynamo.

“I had family and friends out there supporting [me],” said Cameroon, who played the entirety of a 2-2 draw with the Revolution on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium.

“I grew up watching the Revs. One day I said I wanted to be on the field playing and having the opportunity to do that now is tremendous and I’m very lucky.”

Cameron has made the most of his opportunities since Houston drafted him the third round of the 2008 SuperDraft. Now seen as one of the league’s most versatile players, he was a gem of a find for coach Dominic Kinnear, who drafted him in the third round (42^nd overall) in the 2008 MLS Draft. That Cameron was available so late in the draft was shocking.

It didn’t take long for him to get attention from the National Team. Shortly after the completion of his rookie season, Bob Bradley called Cameron for camp in January 2009. But an injury limited him, and Cameron was unable to make the most of his opportunity.

Cameron got another shot this offseason, this time grabbing the attention of Jurgen Klinsmann. In January, he and former Revolution central defender Michael Parkhurst played 90 minutes in a 1-0 shutout of Venezuela. The match was seen as an enormous success for Cameron, who combined well with Parkhurst and shut down the Venezuelan attack.

Weeks later, he was a part of the first U.S. squad to beat Italy in the Nats’ 1-0 win in Genoa on Feb. 29.  Although the Attleboro native didn’t see any action in the historic win, he savors the time he has spent with the national team and is hungry to prove himself again.

“Having the opportunity to get called in against Venezuela as well as being on the bench for the Italy game and being a part of that group was excellent and fantastic,” Cameron said. “Hopefully I get an opportunity to get (back to camp) and see what I can do.”

Cameron is hoping to get that opportunity on Sunday. Last week, Klinsmann named the first half of his roster for a slate of games against Scotland, Brazil, Canada, Antigua & Barbuda and Guatemala. The rest of the call-ups – which are expected to included a number of MLS players – will be announced on Sunday.

“Hopefully, everything goes well and I get called in,” finished Cameroon. “We’ll see how things go.”

“Obviously, there’s a lot to improve in my game and I want to get better. If I get the call I’m going to listen to what the (national team coaching staff) has to say to get better and better.”

Julian Cardillo can be reached at juliancardillo@snenet.com.