While Christian Pulisic, Folarin Balogun and most of the rest of the United States men’s national team’s best players are in Las Vegas preparing for Thursday’s high profile CONCACAF Nations League semifinal Mexico, interim USMNT coach B.J. Callaghan also has an entirely different competition to think about.
Callaghan named an almost entirely different squad Monday for this summer’s Gold Cup, which begins just six days after Sunday’s Nations League final and runs through July 16. The Americans are the defending champions of both competitions.
Starting goalkeeper Matt Turner is one of just five Gold Cup invitees who are also on the roster for the Nations League. Most of the USMNT’s European-based stars will take a break after the Nations League before returning to their clubs for preseason, leaving Callaghan to select a 23-man group that features 16 players from Major League Soccer — seven of them 2022 World Cup alums.
“It’s a roster that has a good mix of veteran players that have World Cup experience and younger players have earned an opportunity to come into camp and represent the United States,” Callaghan told U.S. Soccer’s website. “We’re trying to expose as many players as possible to tournament competition.”
Here’s the full Gold Cup roster followed by three quick takeaways:
Goalkeepers: Sean Johnson, Toronto FC; Gaga Slonina, Chelsea (England), Matt Turner, Arsenal (England)
Defenders: DeJuan Jones, New England Revolution; Aaron Long, LAFC; Matt Miazga, FC Cincinnati; Jalen Neal, LA Galaxy; Bryan Reynolds, Roma (Italy): Miles Robinson, Atlanta United; John Tolkin, New York Red Bulls; DeAndre Yedlin, Inter Miami
Midfielders: Gianluca Busio, Venezia (Italy); Djordje Mihailovic, AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands); Aidan Morris, Columbus Crew; Cristian Roldan, Seattle Sounders; James Sands, New York City FC; Alan Soñora, FC Juárez (Mexico)
Forwards: Cade Cowell, San Jose Earthquakes; Jesús Ferreira, FC Dallas; Julian Gressel, Vancouver Whitecaps; Jordan Morris, Seattle Sounders; Brandon Vazquez, FC Cincinnati; Alex Zendejas, Club América (Mexico)
Few stars but no shortage of experience
Even without the likes of Pulisic, Balogun and Gio Reyna, there’s plenty of familiar names here. Two-time World Cup participant (and Lionel Messi’s soon-to-be teammate in Miami) DeAndre Yedlin tops the list with 78 caps. Turner, longtime backup goalkeeper Sean Johnson, center back Aaron Long, midfielder Cristian Roldan and forwards Jesus Ferreira and Jordan Morris also all traveled to Qatar 2022.
Almost half of the roster has been to a Gold Cup before. Six players on this list were also on the U.S. team that won the biennial competition in 2021.
“It’s the most valuable thing when you’re attempting to win another trophy – these players can fall back on experiences,” Callaghan said. “They can also share their experiences with players that haven’t gone through it. You can lean on that group’s experience to know how help navigate anything that comes up in this type of competition.”
Robinson, Turner, Zendejas the notable holdovers
Turner and center back Miles Robinson parlayed their Best 11 performances at the 2021 Gold Cup into starting roles with the USMNT’s varsity when qualifying games for the 2022 World Cup began.
This Gold Cup can help their careers, too. It’s only been about six months since Robinson returned from the devastating Achilles injury that so cruelly kept him off the plane to Qatar; at his age, the 26-year-old can’t get enough international games.
Turner can’t get enough games, period. He’ll use this summer to rack up minutes before either returning to the understudy role he filled behind Gunners’ No. 1 Aaron Ramsdale last season or as a shop window for other clubs who could offer regular playing time on loan
Meantime, the well liked Zendejas will have the opportunity to further establish himself within the bigger player pool with a bigger role — one he’ll relish after likely being part of the supporting cast of the Nations Legaue.
Once again, there was no place for longtime U.S. defender John Brooks.
“We had a number of good conversations with John,” Callaghan said. “He’s coming off a season at Hoffenheim where he was a key member of their fight to avoid relegation. This summer he’ll have the chance to participate in a full preseason with them for the first time, so we felt in this particular moment it’s best for him to take advantage of that opportunity.”
Cowell earns his chance
With three goals and an assist in four games, Cade Cowell led the Americans to the quarterfinals — where they lost to eventual champ Uruguay — at the recently concluded FIFA U-20 World Cup in Argentina.
Combined with his high energy showings in three appearances with the senior USMNT, the 19-year-old attackers earned his invite. But getting minutes won’t be easy, not with World Cup vets like Ferreira and Morris, plus the experienced Zendejas and target man Brandon Vazquez, among the other forwards.
Still, Cowell is the youngster most likely to offer a game-changing spark from the bench in his first official competition with the USMNT. He’s not the only one. Cowell is among six dual citizens who’ll be permanently tied to the U.S. should they step on the field at the Gold Cup. The others are Vazquez (Mexico), Aidan Morris (Canada), Gaga Slonina (Poland), Alan Soñora (Argentina) and Julian Gressel (Germany) — not that there’s any doubt about their commitment to the cause at this stage.
“Even the younger players have been in our environment over the last couple of months and know what to expect,” Callaghan said. “As long as we continue to keep things consistent then the expectation is that they will be able to pick up and gel as quickly as possible.”
Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.
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