Interim manager Mikey Varas called up a few new faces for U.S. men’s national team friendlies against Canada and New Zealand this month.
Varas will coach the U.S. team as it continues through its process of hiring a new manager, which The Athletic reported is expected to be Mauricio Pochettino. The plan has long been for Varas to oversee this camp, and he and his staff have been working on the roster for several weeks.
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Several first-team regulars are missing from this camp due to injury or club situations, though 18 players were a part of this summer’s Copa America roster.
Weston McKennie only started full training with Juventus in the third week of August and remains in preseason form, so he’ll remain at Juventus to focus on getting fully fit. Antonee Robinson had two offseason surgeries and has not had time off, so he is being left back at Fulham for rest and recovery. Cameron Carter-Vickers has a toe injury, Tim Weah and Gianluca Busio are injured and Tyler Adams and Sergiño Dest remain out with longer-term injuries. Midfielder Tanner Tessmann also only recently started with a new club and so was not summoned for this camp.
Going to Kansas City…
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Thirteen players are age 23 and younger: Brenden Aaronson, Folarin Balogun and Patrick Schulte (23); Johnny Cardoso, Kristoffer Lund, Aidan Morris, Malik Tillman (22); Yunus Musah, Ricardo Pepi, Gio Reyna, Joe Scally (21); Caleb Wiley (19); and Diego Kochen (18).
“We always carry a pretty young squad,” Varas said. “It’s something that I think is ingrained in the federation’s DNA. Age is just a number – it’s about what you do with your club, what you’ve done with the national team in the past, and – most importantly – what you do in this exact moment. If players are young but they show they’re good enough and they perform well for their club and country, they’ll get opportunities.”
DETAILED ROSTER BY POSITION (Club/Country; Caps/Goals)
GOALKEEPERS (4): Ethan Horvath (Cardiff City/WAL; 9/0), Diego Kochen (FC Barcelona II/ESP; 0/0), Patrick Schulte (Columbus Crew; 1/0), Matt Turner (Crystal Palace/ENG; 44/0)
DEFENDERS (8): Auston Trusty (Celtic/SCO; 2/0), Marlon Fossey (Standard Liege/BEL; 0/0), Kristoffer Lund (Palermo/ITA; 3/0), Mark McKenzie (Tolouse/FRA; 13/0), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC; 61/1), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace/ENG; 21/1), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach/GER; 11/0), Caleb Wiley (Strasbourg/FRA; 2/0)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis/ESP; 15/0), Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo/ESP; 22/0), Aidan Morris (Middlesbrough/ENG; 5/0), Yunus Musah (AC Milan; ITA; 39/0), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund/GER; 31/8), Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven/NED; 12/0)
FORWARDS (6): Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United/ENG; 42/8), Folarin Balogun (Monaco/FRA; 15/5), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven/NED; 28/10), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan/ITA; 71/30), Josh Sargent (Norwich City/ENG; 25/5), Haji Wright (Coventry City/ENG; 11/4)
Who are the new faces worth noting?
Kochen, the Barcelona goalkeeper, gets his first senior national team call-up after previously featuring at the under-20 levels. Kochen, who was born in Miami, has played with Barcelona through its youth academy and made the bench for several first-team games last year.
“(This) will be his first time with the senior national team,” Varas said. “He’s a young player playing for Barcelona B that we see as a high potential player. This is an opportunity for him to come in and not only compete with the senior team, but also get an amazing experience so that we can keep building for our future.”
Elsewhere, Fossey is back in camp for the first time since a pre-Gold Cup camp under previous coach Gregg Berhalter in the summer of 2019. Fossey, a right back, moved to Standard Liege in 2022 from Fulham.
“(Fossey) hasn’t been in the group for a long time, but I think it’s a great example that even if you haven’t been in for a while, what you do with your club matters,” said Varas. “We’re always watching a really big pool of players. Right now, it’s a great opportunity for the entire right back pool. Unfortunately with Sergiño Dest out, who we miss dearly, it’s opened up the opportunity for us to test other guys. He’s done a great job with Standard Liege, performing really well. We’ve been tracking him, and we want to give him an opportunity.”
Which players have a chance to make a big impression in this camp?
(Photo by Cameron Smith, Getty Images)
With so many big-name absences, it should open up a chance for minutes for several players at key positions. It will be worth watching the battle at the No. 6 position between Johnny Cardoso and Aidan Morris. Meanwhile, Yunus Musah and Luca de la Torre will try to win minutes at the No. 8 position.
With Weah out, Brenden Aaronson and Haji Wright could get significant minutes at winger, though Varas could opt to play Gio Reyna on the wing, which would open up minutes for Malik Tillman.
Antonee Robinson’s absence means Kristoffer Lund and Caleb Wiley have big chances to get starts at left back. Wiley recently moved to Strasbourg via Chelsea and has played three games with two starts in France.
“I’ll reiterate that the long-term vision is to make sure that this is a really competitive training environment during this camp,” Varas said. “All the boys know that there will be no starting lineup set. What they do in training is going to matter. The guys who are performing in training and earn it are going to get the starting positions.”
(Top photo: Jay Biggerstaff / USA Today)