Overview:

Add center back to the growing number of spots that Jeremy Hall has shown that he can play.

Red Bulls defender Jeremy Hall acquitted himself well when he was thrown into another new situation, this team with the Generation adidas team in South Africa. (Michael Lewis/FrontRowSoccer.com)

This story originally was posted on BigAppleSoccer.com on Dec. 9, 2009. It is used with permission

By Michael Lewis

BigAppleSoccer.com Editor

CAPE TOWN — Add center back to the growing number of spots that Jeremy Hall has shown that he can play.

During the MLS’ Generation adidas tour of South Africa, Hall found himself playing all over the back, from the right side to the left flank to the middle.

Not too shabby for a left-sided midfielder out of the University of Maryland. Hall recently completed his MLS rookie season, playing mostly at right fullback for the Red Bulls due to injuries and red cards to Costa Rican international Carlos Johnson.

Hall doesn’t care where he plays, as long as he plays.

“It was actually funny,” he said after Generation adidas defeated Ajax Cape Town in its third and final game of the trip, 2-0, on Sunday. “We had only one training session when we got here. Before we had our first game . . . coach was giving us the lineup, and he had me at center back. So that was new to me, too.

“It’s just good being here with the guys and just getting minutes. We have a lot of good players in spots, and we’re sharing the playing time. For the coach to keep me on the field and put me on the field, it’s fine. I played there [left side] a couple of times with the Red Bulls. It wasn’t bad. I played with some of these guys. I know their tendencies, so it makes it easier.”

Hall was referring to players such as Rodney Wallace, who played with Hall on last year’s NCAA Division I championship team.

Generation adidas coach Robert Warzycha, who directs the Columbus Crew, liked what he saw in Hall.

“We were a little bit thin in the back, so we asked Jeremy to play a couple of different positions and he did it,” he said. “He did very well. In all three games that he played, he played very well. In the first one he was cramping a little bit, but that’s obvious after a long trip. He was one of the best players.”

It appeared Ajax was testing Hall in the first 10 minutes as they kept sending long ball after long ball on the right side and toward the right corner. Hall than more held his own, either stopping his man or intercepting a pass or two.

“Their midfield actually has a lot of speed,” Hall said. “They did a really good job of getting a few passes in short spots and the long ball. It was a point they just kept going down my side. It was like 40-yard sprints up and back.”

Hall said he enjoyed the challenge.

“These teams are good,” he said. “They’re very technical. Just getting those games and playing in this altitude helps our fitness level. We’re going to go home and show off a little bit. It was perfect soccer weather, nice and hot.”

While it was a little work playing three games (the MLS side finished at 2-1), Hall and his teammates got an opportunity to take in the cultural end of things. That included visits to the Apartheid Museum and to Nelson Mandela’s house in Johannesburg, a safari, and a trip to Robben Island, where Mandela was imprisoned and being able to watch the World Cup draw in downtown Cape Town.

“It’s just been a great trip and one that I will remember forever,” Hall said.

Hall admitted it was difficult to pick out a favorite stop on the tour.

“Every day we’ve done something that has been awesome,” he said. “Going to Mandela’s house in Johannesburg was unbelievable. Being at the World Cup draw and just seeing the reactions of all the fans. going on safari, being close to elephants and lions and all that stuff. Going to Robben Island, where Mandela was in prison for 27 years. Everything is awesome. It’s hard to [pick] one. It’s something that I will never forget.”

Jeremy Hall watched the 2010 World Cup draw in the streets of Cape Town with his Generation adidas teammates in December 2009. (Michael Lewis/FrontRowSoccer.com)

Hall was in the streets with several teammates to take in the draw with the rest of the city.

“It was beautiful,” he said. “Me and some of the guys went and good some food. They had it on the big projection screen. Just the whole thing, when Mandela spoke, when they’re announcing everything. The pride people have for their country is just beautiful. All colors, white, black, mixed, it’s just beautiful.

“They are all sitting together mixed. So, I think the World Cup next summer is going to be awesome here.”