A day after he was red-carded for head-butting Chicago's Daniel Paladini in the 11th minute of Real Salt Lake's 3-0 loss, midfielder Kyle Beckerman was called up by U.S. National Team coach Jurgen Klinsmann for a pair of October friendlies.
The U.S. will host Honduras on Oct. 8 in Miami and then Ecuador in Harrison, N.J. on Oct. 11. The call-up means Beckerman will be unavailable for RSL's match at Vancouver on Oct. 6.
"As always, being called up to the U.S. National Team is a great honor; I'm very much looking forward to working with coach Klinsmann and his staff once again," said Beckerman, who was one of 22 players called into U.S. National Team camp.
Beckerman's red card on Wednesday was just the second of his 12-year career, and he issued the following apology through Real Salt Lake today.
"Unfortunately, I'll be leaving my team on a sour note after my actions in Wednesday's game. I'm very sorry to my teammates and fans across Major League Soccer for losing my composure in the game against the Fire, it was very uncharacteristic of me. While I take full responsibility for the red card, I look forward to moving on for both my club and my country," said Beckerman.