Training notes: A welcome return

BRETTSCHNEIDER, BARKLAGE RETURN TO TRAINING

Concussions have taken a toll on D.C. United's roster this season. Devon McTavish hasn't played all year due to a knock he took in preseason, Santino Quaranta has been sidelined since May after taking an elbow to the head in training, Brandon Barklage suffered a blow in a Reserve League match against Philadelphia on July 2, and Blake Brettschneider has been on the bench since being kicked in the face in New York on July 9.

To the delight of their teammates, all four players participated in training Tuesday morning in some capacity.

McTavish and Quaranta worked to regain fitness by running and doing light ball work. Barklage and Brettschneider trained without any restrictions.

Both players admitted to being a little timid when it came to headers.

"I was a little nervous going up for head balls," Barklage said after training. "It felt good. I feel 100 percent, no concerns from here."

"The last thing I want to do is catch a ball off my head wrong and be out again," Brettschneider echoed. "I'm just going to try and be smart about [headers] and ease back into it."

With forwards Josh Wolff (hamstring) and Charlie Davies' (knee inflammation) statuses in question for this weekend's match in San Jose (10:30 p.m. EST/Comcast SportsNet), Bretschneider may be called upon to contribute as early as Saturday.

"[The forward situation] is not ideal. The good thing is that Blake [Brettschneider] got through training today," Head Coach Ben Olsen said. "We'll be able to put something together."

"For me personally, I want to get back. Sitting on the bench is no fun, especially not even being available to play," Brettschneider said. "If I can come back and help out the team, which it looks like we may be in a situation where that's the case - that's all the better for me, but of course we need those guys back and healthy. We need a full team to do well in this League."

DE ROSARIO NAMED TO MLS ALL-STAR SQUAD

Major League Soccer announced Monday that United midfielder Dwayne De Rosario was selected to represent D.C. United as an inactive All-Star. De Rosario was named to the team through player voting.

"Getting called to the All-Star team is always an honor and I appreciate that. It's been a long year for me in terms of games and Gold Cup. We just played Wednesday and then against Everton, so for me that was kind of my All-Star Game," the veteran attacker said Tuesday. "Of course, it would be nice to play against [Manchester United], but we have another big game coming up this weekend in San Jose.

The honor marks the sixth time in De Rosario's career he has been selected as an All-Star.

ACADEMY HAPPENINGS

The Generation adidas Cup kicked off Monday in Frisco, Texas, as defending champion D.C. United took on the Columbus Crew in U-17 action. The Black-and-Red got off to a rough start, allowing two goals within the first ten minutes of play. However, United fired back as Patrick Foss scored twice early in the second-half to draw even. Palamin Fotana, Nigel Robinson, and Collin Martin all added goals to lead D.C. United to a 5-3 victory to start the tournament. The U-17's will play Houston at 7:30 p.m. EST Tuesday evening.

Across the Atlantic, D.C. United Academy players Jalen Robinson and Marcus Selandy-Defour came on as subsitutes during halftime to help the United States U-18 squad to a 2-0 victory against Israel in the team's opening match of the 2011 Milk Cup in Northern Ireland. The USA plays rival Mexico at 3:00 p.m. EST on Wednesday.