Bulls Bonus Q&A: Aubrey ‘Tre’ Perry

Posted Jul 1, 2010 by Scott Carter

Updated Jun 30, 2010 at 11:29 PM

The World Cup has been front-and-center in the sports world the past couple of weeks.

USF junior defender Aubrey “Tre’’ Perry has tried to watch as many matches as possible on TV, but Perry has important matches of his own to play.

Perry is in San Jose, Calif., this week competing for a spot on the U.S. Under-20 National Team. The U.S. plays an exhibition match against the San Jose Earthquakes of the MLS on Thursday, and then a match against the Premiere Development League’s Fresno Fuego on Sunday.

“I think that’s the big game to see how everything has come down and see how we’ve progressed and grown as a team,’’ Perry said of Sunday’s match. “I’m glad I got the call-up at this time and hopefully I’ll be able to show my stuff.’’

Perry planned to spend much of his summer working out with the Columbus Crew until his phone rang recently. Next thing he knew, Perry was packing for a trip to Fresno in hopes of earning a spot on the U.S. Under-20 team that will compete in the Northern Ireland Milk Cup starting July 26.

Prior to receiving this week’s invitation from U.S. Under-20 coach Thomas Rungen, Perry’s last competition with the U.S. National Team was with the Under-18 team early in 2009.

Perry is one of 10 college players on the 24-man U.S. roster this week, including Maryland goalkeeper Zac MacMath of St. Petersburg.

Here is our Q&A with Perry:

Q: Were you surprised when you received the invitation?

A: Actually, it was a surprise. I hadn’t been with the Under-20 team very much and it’s been awhile since my last national team trip. I was pretty excited when I got the call about the camp.

Q: Why do you think you got the call? Do you think it was perhaps your season at USF?

A: I think that had a lot to do with it since Thomas Rungen, the head coach, watches a lot of games down in Tampa because that’s where he lives. I assume that had a lot to do with it.’’

Q: What’s next if you make the team?

A: Hopefully if I do well out here, I would be invited to play in the Northern Ireland Milk Cup, an international tournament that is pretty prestigious. After that, there will be friendlies [exhibition matches] in late November against Mexico and I think Costa Rica.

Q: How do you think you have done so far in camp?

A: I think I’ve done pretty well. We’ve just had a couple of trainings. It hasn’t been too intense. I just played a half in the game against San Jose [on Tuesday]. I think I did pretty well.

Q: Has the World Cup being played at the same time energized the atmosphere?

A: We had a few people at our game and I’ve heard a lot of chatter about the World Cup. We’ve been able to watch the games while we were here. I’d say the talk about soccer has definitely gone up, especially here in San Jose, which is a very diverse city.