The U.S. Men’s National Team has seemingly always possessed a talented crop of goalkeepers. From legends like Brad Friedel, Tony Meola and Kasey Keller to current stars Tim Howard and Brad Guzan, the goalkeeping position has long been a spot of strength for the U.S.
With Howard and Guzan’s careers winding down, though, the U.S. will soon look towards a new crop of talented shot-stoppers.
On Tuesday, Fox Sports reported that FC Dallas goalkeeper Jesse Gonzalez has filed paperwork to officially represent the USMNT. Gonzalez was named to the USMNT’s 40-man preliminary Gold Cup roster and is expected to be included in this summer’s tournament. If approved by FIFA, Gonzalez would officially be cap-tied to the USMNT after representing Mexico as a youth international.
The securing of Gonzalez’s international future is a big one for the U.S. while also taking the highly-regarded goalkeeper away from a CONCACAF rival. However, Gonzalez is far from the only promising goalkeeping prospect scattered throughout the national team program.
For quite some time, Ethan Horvath has been viewed as the heir apparent. The Club Brugge goalkeeper has been a semi-frequent USMNT call-up for several years, including at last summer’s Copa America, and he is set to begin his first UEFA Champions League campaign this summer.
There are also some interesting prospects coming up through MLS. After shining at the Under-20 World Cup in 2015, Zack Steffen is finding his footing as starter for the Columbus Crew. The same could be said of the New England Revolution’s Cody Cropper, who was previously a regular throughout the U.S. youth teams.
Going a bit further, the current U.S. youth setup has shot-stoppers with promise. Jonathan Klinsmann, who won the Golden Glove award during CONCACAF qualifying, had his ups and downs during the U-20 World Cup, but showed plenty of potential throughout his run with the U-20s while also earning trials with Everton and Stuttgart. His teammate, J.T. Marcinkowski, is also highly-regarded, having trained with Eintracht Frankfurt this spring.
With that in mind, SBI asks who you see as the USMNT’s most promising goalkeeper under the age of 25? Who are you most excited to watch in the coming years?
Vote in the poll below and explain your reasoning in the comment section:
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