United States males’s nationwide group head coach Mauricio Pochettino on Thursday named his 25-player roster for upcoming friendlies in opposition to Paraguay and Uruguay.
Whereas it options the return of Borussia Mönchengladbach teammates Giovanni Reyna and Joe Scally, in addition to PSV Eindhoven‘s Ricardo Pepi, there are additionally notable absences, together with Juventus‘ Weston McKennie, AC Milan‘s Christian Pulisic, Crystal Palace‘s Chris Richards and Marseille‘s Tim Weah.
The U.S. will face Paraguay in Chester, Pennsylvania, on Nov. 15, and can then tackle Uruguay in Tampa three days later.
“As we proceed to develop our squad and construct on the tradition we’ve got created, that is one other nice alternative for the gamers chosen for this roster to show they need to be on the ultimate listing for the World Cup,” Pochettino mentioned.
“It is essential that they arrive into this camp ready to point out their qualities on the sphere and their dedication to being an excellent teammate. We are going to hold engaged on the aggressive particulars in coaching and have the chance to problem ourselves in opposition to two high-quality opponents from South America.”
Pulisic, Richards and Weah have been nursing accidents, with the previous sustaining a hamstring harm over the past worldwide window. Weah suffered a thigh harm on Oct. 25, whereas Richards has been nursing a calf challenge.
The rationale for McKennie’s absence is unknown in the mean time, and whereas he went the space in Juve’s draw in opposition to Sporting CP within the UEFA Champions League, he’s additionally attempting to impress a brand new supervisor in Luciano Spalletti, who was employed final week.
The harm listing, which additionally contains Fulham’s Antonee Robinson and Membership América’s Alejandro Zendejas makes for yet one more window the place Pochettino could have a roster that’s considerably lower than full power.
Reyna and Scally return for the primary since each gamers took half within the 2025 Concacaf Nations League finals again in March. Reyna has additionally switched golf equipment in that point, shifting to Gladbach from Borussia Dortmund. Each gamers featured in final week’s 4-0 victory over St. Pauli, which was Gladbach’s first of the season. The absences of McKennie, Pulisic, Weah and Zendejas may probably clear the way in which for Reyna to get appreciable taking part in time.
Pepi returns to the USMNT for the primary time since November of 2024, and carries with him appreciable momentum, having scored a stoppage time equalizer in PSV’s 1-1 draw in opposition to Olympiacos within the UCL.
He’ll deal with Monaco’s Folarin Balogun — who additionally scored within the Champions League this week — in addition to Coventry Metropolis’s Haji Wright for enjoying time.
The aforementioned November 2024 window was additionally the final time that Celtic defender Auston Trusty was within the USMNT fold having benefited from accidents to membership teammate Cameron Carter-Vickers, in addition to the Vancouver Whitecaps‘ Tristan Blackmon.
Gamers start reporting to camp in Philadelphia on Nov. 9.
DETAILED ROSTER BY POSITION (Membership/Nation; Caps/Targets)
GOALKEEPERS (4): Roman Celentano (FC Cincinnati; 0/0), Matt Freese (New York Metropolis FC; 11/0), Jonathan Klinsmann (Cesena/ITA; 0/0), Patrick Schulte (Columbus Crew; 3/0)
DEFENDERS (9): Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew; 14/1), Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven/NED; 35/2), Alex Freeman (Orlando Metropolis; 11/0), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse FC/FRA; 24/0), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC; 78/1), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati; 37/3), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach/GER; 21/0), John Tolkin (Holstein Kiel/GER; 4/0), Auston Trusty (Celtic/SCO; 4/0)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Tyler Adams (Bournemouth/ENG; 52/2), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps/CAN; 7/0), Aidan Morris (Middlesbrough/ENG; 11/0), Gio Reyna (Borussia Mönchengladbach/GER; 32/8), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders; 41/0), Tanner Tessmann (Olympique Lyon/FRA; 10/0), Sean Zawadzki (Columbus Crew; 1/0)
FORWARDS (5): Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United/ENG; 54/9), Folarin Balogun (AS Monaco/FRA; 27/7), Diego Luna (Actual Salt Lake; 16/3), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven/NED; 33/13), Haji Wright (Coventry Metropolis/ENG; 19/7)
