USMNT Reveals Squad for March Friendlies; McKennie, Hoppe Among Those Not Included
For the final time before the matches start to matter, U.S. national team coach Gregg Berhalter is able to call upon his young European-based stars for training and games. He unveiled his latest roster on Wednesday.
The pandemic seems like it’s lasted forever, but in soccer circles it’s really just compressed time. A year was lost, and the calendar has become overcrowded as a result. This year, the USA will contest the delayed Concacaf Nations League finals in early June, the Gold Cup in July and then World Cup qualifying starting in September.
Berhalter has had little opportunity to prepare his top players for this gauntlet. He had his full squad for a few days in November, when it played two friendlies, and he’ll have them again starting next week (some players will begin reporting Friday), before the Americans face Jamaica in Wiener Neustadt, Austria (March 25) and Northern Ireland in Belfast (March 28). And that’s it. The Nations League window is next, and that’ll likely be the last time many of the program’s big names are available before World Cup qualifying kicks off. The Gold Cup probably will be more of a test of the player pool’s depth.
“This is another step forward in strengthening our group in preparation for Nations League, Gold Cup, and World Cup qualifying,” Berhalter said Wednesday. “It’s great to get the group together to continue to build relationships on and off the field. We look forward to the games and the different challenges they will pose.”
It’ll be up to the coaching staff and players to make the most of their time together in Europe, even as the coronavirus continues to impact plans. Several players have been barred by their club from travel to both Austria and Northern Ireland this month because of quarantine issues. Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund), John Brooks (Wolfsburg), Reggie Cannon (Boavista), Chris Richards (Hoffenheim), Tyler Adams (RB Leipzig), Josh Sargent (Werder Bremen) and Tim Weah (Lille) all will leave camp following the Jamaica friendly, according to U.S. Soccer.
Sipa USA (3)
The biggest name missing from Berhalter’s list is that of midfielder Weston McKennie, who’s emerged as a key figure at Juventus this season. That means there will be no reprise of the three-man midfield that did so well in November: McKennie, Adams and the newly committed Yunus Musah. Another notable absence is winger Paul Arriola, who’s been a Berhalter favorite and has been on loan at Swansea since the beginning of February. He's had recent injury issues. Emerging forwards Matthew Hoppe and Jordan Siebatcheu also didn’t make the cut, and Jordan Morris is out with a torn ACL.
"[McKennie] was omitted from the roster because of a slight injury that he's been dealing with and as you can imagine, guys at his level playing Champions League, playing league games three times a week, having games, it takes a toll on you," Berhalter said during a Wednesday conference call. "And he's getting used to that. His body is adapting to that level of competition, and unfortunately, we had to rule him out for this camp as he goes through further investigation."
McKennie has already made 34 appearances for Juventus this season but has come on as a substitute in three of the past four Serie A games.
Hoppe's exclusion was due in large part to the travel restrictions imposed by German clubs. Berhalter said he didn't see Hoppe getting much playing time when the full roster was available for the Jamaica friendly, the only match for which he was going to be available. But the 20-year-old remains on the radar.
"I had discussions with him," Berhalter said of Hoppe. "I talked about his progress at Schalke. I talked about some of the things we really like with him, and I also told him that we’re going to continue to monitor him and hopefully get a chance to look at him before the World Cup qualifiers start."
The roster isn’t comprised entirely of European players. Three MLS men made the list—defender Aaron Long, midfielder Kellyn Acosta and midfielder Sebastian Lletget. Former Orlando City striker Daryl Dike, who’s been excellent since going on loan to England’s Barnsley, also is aboard.
Concacaf rival Jamaica is a familiar opponent for the USA. The two nations faced off twice in 2019, once in a friendly (won, 1-0, by the Reggae Boyz) and once in the Gold Cup semifinals (won, 3-1, by the Americans). Like the USA, Jamaica has received a bye to the octagonal round of Concacaf World Cup qualifying. The qualifiers between the two will be in October and November. Jamaica currently is ranked third in Concacaf and 47th in the world by FIFA (the USA is No. 22).
Northern Ireland is an uncommon opponent. The countries have have met just once, back in 1948. Ranked 45th, Northern Ireland enjoyed a surprise run to the second round of Euro 2016, where it lost to neighboring Wales, but it then failed to advance to this summer’s edition after falling in the qualifying playoffs. Northern Ireland will be using the U.S. friendly to stay sharp for World Cup qualifying, which begins March 25 at Italy and continues March 31 against Bulgaria.
Here’s the U.S. squad:
GOALKEEPERS: Ethan Horvath (Club Brugge), Chituru Odunze (Leicester City), Zack Steffen (Manchester City)
DEFENDERS: John Brooks (Wolfsburg), Reggie Cannon (Boavista), Sergiño Dest (Barcelona), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls), Matt Miazga (Anderlecht), Erik Palmer-Brown (Austria Wien), Tim Ream (Fulham), Bryan Reynolds (AS Roma), Chris Richards (Hoffenheim), Antonee Robinson (Fulham)
MIDFIELDERS: Brenden Aaronson (Red Bull Salzburg), Kellyn Acosta (Colorado Rapids), Tyler Adams (RB Leipzig), Luca de la Torre (Heracles Almelo), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy), Yunus Musah (Valencia), Owen Otasowie (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
FORWARDS: Daryl Dike (Barnsley), Nicholas Gioacchini (Caen), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund), Josh Sargent (Werder Bremen), Tim Weah (Lille)
