![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Jeremy-Hall-10726a.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\tOverview:<\/p>\n
Add center back to the growing number of spots that Jeremy Hall has shown that he can play.<\/p>\n
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)<\/p>\n
This story originally was posted on BigAppleSoccer.com on Dec. 9, 2009. It is used with permission<\/p>\n
By Michael Lewis<\/p>\n
BigAppleSoccer.com Editor<\/p>\n
CAPE TOWN \u2014 Add center back to the growing number of spots that Jeremy Hall has shown that he can play.<\/p>\n
During the MLS\u2019 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Hall doesn\u2019t care where he plays, as long as he plays.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was actually funny,\u201d he said after Generation adidas defeated Ajax Cape Town in its third and final game of the trip, 2-0, on Sunday. \u201cWe 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just good being here with the guys and just getting minutes. We have a lot of good players in spots, and we\u2019re sharing the playing time. For the coach to keep me on the field and put me on the field, it\u2019s fine. I played there [left side] a couple of times with the Red Bulls. It wasn\u2019t bad. I played with some of these guys. I know their tendencies, so it makes it easier.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hall was referring to players such as Rodney Wallace, who played with Hall on last year\u2019s NCAA Division I championship team.<\/p>\n
Generation adidas coach Robert Warzycha, who directs the Columbus Crew, liked what he saw in Hall.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were a little bit thin in the back, so we asked Jeremy to play a couple of different positions and he did it,\u201d he said. \u201cHe 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\u2019s obvious after a long trip. He was one of the best players.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir midfield actually has a lot of speed,\u201d Hall said. \u201cThey 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hall said he enjoyed the challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese teams are good,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re very technical. Just getting those games and playing in this altitude helps our fitness level. We\u2019re going to go home and show off a little bit. It was perfect soccer weather, nice and hot.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just been a great trip and one that I will remember forever,\u201d Hall said.<\/p>\n
Hall admitted it was difficult to pick out a favorite stop on the tour.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day we\u2019ve done something that has been awesome,\u201d he said. \u201cGoing to Mandela\u2019s 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\u2019s hard to [pick] one. It\u2019s something that I will never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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)<\/p>\n
Hall was in the streets with several teammates to take in the draw with the rest of the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was beautiful,\u201d he said. \u201cMe 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\u2019re announcing everything. The pride people have for their country is just beautiful. All colors, white, black, mixed, it\u2019s just beautiful.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are all sitting together mixed. So, I think the World Cup next summer is going to be awesome here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Overview: Add center back to the growing number of spots that Jeremy Hall has shown that he can…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10491,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[7280,7281,7282,892,7283,7284,131],"class_list":{"0":"post-10490","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-south-africa","8":"tag-2010-world-cup-draw","9":"tag-generation-adidas","10":"tag-jeremy-hall","11":"tag-nelson-mandela","12":"tag-robben-island","13":"tag-robert-warzycha","14":"tag-south-africa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}