Retired Beasley, Stanford's Morris make U.S.'s provisional Gold Cup team
U.S. men's national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann has named a 35-player provisional roster for the 2015 Gold Cup, headlined by retired defender DaMarcus Beasley, Stanford standout Jordan Morris and a number of the USA's stalwart stars.
Beasley, who retired internationally last December, has offered to come out of international retirement to join the squad in a surprise development. LA Galaxy striker Alan Gordon is another surprise inclusion, as the 33-year-old hasn't been a member of any U.S. squad since 2013 and has only one international cap to his name -- a substitute outing against Antigua and Barbuda in 2012. Morris will continue his run with the team after impressing in recent friendlies.
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Notable exclusions include 2014 World Cup squad members Julian Green, Geoff Cameron, and Jermaine Jones. Arsenal youngster Gedion Zelalem, who has impressed at the U-20 World Cup in Chile this month, will not make the trip. Minnesota United midfielder Miguel Ibarra, who has become a fixture in Klinsmann's U.S. squads since his surprise call-up in October, has also been left off the roster.
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Klinsmann must trim this list of 35 to a 23-player final roster in the next three weeks. Teams are allowed to bring in new players for the knockout rounds of the competition, but the replacement players must come from this 35-man list.
The United States opens the Gold Cup on July 7th against Panama in Frisco, Texas, and will look to advance from a group that also includes 2014 World Cup qualifiers Honduras as well as Haiti. If the United States wins the tournament, it will qualify directly for the 2017 Confederations Cup, a World Cup warm-up tournament to be held in Russia.
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The U.S. is the defending Gold Cup champions, having won the 2013 edition with a narrow victory over Panama in the final. The Americans placed second at the two previous editions of the tournament, losing to Mexico in the final both times.
The full 2015 Gold Cup roster can be found below:
Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake), William Yarbrough (Club Leon)
Defenders: Ventura Alvarado (Club America), DaMarcus Beasley (Houston Dynamo), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), John Brooks (Hertha Berlin), Timmy Chandler (Eintracht Frankfurt), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Greg Garza (Club Tijuana), Michael Orozco (Puebla), Tim Ream (Bolton Wanderers), Brek Shea (Orlando City SC), DeAndre Yedlin (Tottenham Hotspur)
Midfielders: Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Mix Diskerud (New York City FC), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Monchengladbach), Perry Kitchen (D.C. United), Alfredo Morales (FC Ingolstadt), Lee Nguyen (New England Revolution), Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
Forwards: Juan Agudelo (New England Revolution), Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders), Alan Gordon (LA Galaxy), Aron Johannsson (AZ Alkmaar), Jordan Morris (Stanford University), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)
