Jozy Altidore is ready to make his return to the U.S. Men’s National Team, headlining a 12-player group of senior team players that will train alongside a 26-player group of U.S. Under-23 players in Bradenton, Florida.
Altidore joins a collection of 12 veterans that will gather in Florida for the annual January USMNT camp. This year’s edition will see the senior team group that will train alongside the U-23 group. Later in January, a select number of the U-23 players will combine with the veteran USMNT group to make up the squad that will play in a friendly being arrange for late January. The friendly has yet to be made official, but reports have identified Serbia as a potential opponent.
“This is an important year for our National Team programs, and we are looking to maximize every possible opportunity,” Berhalter said. “For the senior team players, this is an opportunity to continue to develop as a group and build on the foundation of a busy and challenging year. Being alongside our U-23 team gives that group a chance to prepare for Olympic Qualifying while further integrating into our culture and game model.”
Jordan Morris, Aaron Long, Sebastian Lletget and Cristian Roldan join Altidore in headlining the senior contingent, while the U-23 group features such prospects as Julian Araujo, Bryan Reynolds, Henry Kessler and Daryl Dike.
The U-23 group will be getting together to provide coach Jason Kreis some preparation time to evaluate the group as he works on identifying the team that will feature in Concacaf Olympic qualifying, which is scheduled to take place in March.
“With Olympic qualifying approaching quickly, this training camp is a great opportunity to prepare ourselves and evaluate some new faces,” Kreis said. “While 2020 was a very challenging year, it was impressive to see so many U-23-eligible players make major strides on the field. Some of them have been involved with the senior team over the last few months and it’s exciting to now get our players and staff back together in camp alongside Gregg and his group as we prepare for a very important qualifying tournament.”
The U-23 group is made up mostly of MLS players, but does feature European-based prospects Chris Gloster (PSV) and Bryang Kayo (Wolfsburg).
Also included is FC Dallas right back Bryan Reynolds, who has been widely-linked to a winter transfer move, with Juventus among the clubs linked to him.
One player not included is Philadelphia Union defender Mark McKenzie, who has been linked to a European transfer in January.
Here are the rosters for the January USMNT and U.S. U-23 camps:
USMNT DETAILED ROSTER BY POSITION (Club; Caps/Goals):
GOALKEEPERS (2): Sean Johnson (New York City FC; 9/0), Matt Turner (New England Revolution; 0/0)
DEFENDERS (3): Tristan Blackmon (LAFC; 0/0), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls; 18/3), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC; 13/2)
MIDFIELDERS (3): Kellyn Acosta (Colorado Rapids; 24/2), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy; 17/4), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders FC; 19/0)
FORWARDS (4): Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC/CAN; 115/42), Paul Arriola (D.C. United; 34/6), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders FC; 39/10), Chris Mueller (Orlando City SC; 1/2)
U-23 USMNT DETAILED ROSTER BY POSITION (Club):
GOALKEEPERS: JT Marcinkowski (San Jose Earthquakes), David Ochoa (Real Salt Lake), Brady Scott (Austin FC)
DEFENDERS: Julian Araujo (LA Galaxy), George Bello (Atlanta United FC), Chris Gloster (PSV Eindhoven/NED), Aaron Herrera (Real Salt Lake), Aboubacar Keita (Columbus Crew SC), Henry Kessler (New England Revolution), Mauricio Pineda (Chicago Fire), Bryan Reynolds (FC Dallas), Miles Robinson (Atlanta United FC), Sam Vines (Colorado Rapids)
MIDFIELDERS: Hassani Dotson (Minnesota United FC), Bryang Kayo (Wolfsburg/GER), Andrés Perea* (Orlando City SC), Tanner Tessmann (FC Dallas), Eryk Williamson (Portland Timbers), Jackson Yueill (San Jose Earthquakes)
FORWARDS: Cade Cowell (San Jose Earthquakes), Daryl Dike (Orlando City SC), Jeremy Ebobisse (Portland Timbers), Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas), Jonathan Lewis (Colorado Rapids), Benji Michel (Orlando City SC), Djordje Mihailovic (Montreal Impact/CAN)