By DAN KARELL
As the U.S. Men’s National Team prepares to head back home from a 12-day dry run in Sao Paulo, Brazil, head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has decided to trim down the roster.
U.S. Soccer announced on Friday afternoon that Klinsmann sent five players home while calling up new Columbus Crew signing Michael Parkhurst to his final squad of 22 players for the upcoming friendly match against South Korea. The players heading back to their clubs are are Colorado Rapids defenders Shane O’Neill and Chris Klute, Sporting Kansas City full backs Seth Sinovic and Chance Myers, and Houston Dynamo goalkeeper Tally Hall.
“All of the players have put in a tremendous amount of work and effort these past two weeks,” Klinsmann said in a statement. “We had a great opportunity to introduce some new players into the Senior National Team Program and they have done extremely well. I think they have a bright future, and now they go back to their clubs with a better understanding of what it takes at the international level. We now move forward with the chance to finish off the camp with the goal of getting a result against South Korea.”
Mike Magee, Michael Harrington, Luis Gil, and DeAndre Yedlin all remained in the squad and are in line for their first USMNT cap.
U.S. Soccer also added in their press release that 22,000 tickets have already been sold for the match on Feb. 1 at the StubHub Center. The USMNT will return to the U.S. on Saturday and have the rest of the weekend off before resuming training on Monday.
Here’s the latest USMNT roster for the South Korea friendly:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
DEFENDERS (7): Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders FC), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Clarence Goodson (San Jose Earthquakes), Michael Harrington (Portland Timbers), Michael Parkhurst (Columbus Crew), DeAndre Yedlin (Seattle Sounders FC)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Eric Alexander (New York Red Bulls), Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Mix Diskerud (Rosenborg), Benny Feilhaber (Sporting Kansas City), Luis Gil (Real Salt Lake), Dax McCarty (New York Red Bulls), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
FORWARDS (4): Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Eddie Johnson (D.C. United), Mike Magee (Chicago Fire), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)
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What do you think of this squad? Glad to see Magee stay? Surprised that Harrington and Yedlin beat out Myers, Sinovic, and Klute? What’s your preferred starting lineup from this squad?
Share your thoughts below.