The U.S. Men’s National Team’s preliminary roster for the Concacaf Gold Cup is a long list dominated by Major League Soccer standouts as expected, but it also features a sprinkling of European-based players who could add some intriguing to a summer tournament long-expected to feature just domestic-based players.
Reggie Cannon, Julian Green, Matthew Hoppe and Cameron Carter-Vickers headline a list of seven European-based players included in the USMNT’s 59-player preliminary list, which was released by Concacaf on Friday.
The Gold Cup is an official international competition, meaning club teams are obligated to release players if they are called up, but Berhalter has focused on MLS-based players in order to allow his top European-based players to focus on their club preseasons after having taken part in the USMNT’s recent run at the Concacaf Nations League, which included two matches, as well as friendlies before and after the competition.
Only four players who took part in the Nations League are included on the preliminary roster — Cannon, Sebastian Lletget, Kellyn Acosta and Jackson Yueill — though Daryl Dike was with the team throughout its Nations League run and is expected to make the final Gold Cup roster.
Cannon’s inclusion is the most surprising of that group, though he is in the process of trying to secure a transfer away from Portuguese side Boavista, meaning he could wind up making the final USMNT Gold Cup roster and competing in the tournament if a transfer hasn’t been secured by the time final rosters are due.
The preliminary roster includes some exciting young prospects, including Caden Clark, Cade Cowell and Gianluca Busio, as well as some other intriguing candidates such as James Sands and Leon Flach.
Among the prominent names not included on the roster are Michael Bradley as well as Ayo Akinola, who has been included in Canada’s preliminary Gold Cup roster. Bradley won’t feature in the Gold Cup, but has not formally retired from the USMNT and could theoretically still be part of Berhalter’s plans when World Cup qualifying begins in the fall.
As for Akinola, the former U.S. Under-20 national team player has accepted call-ups from Canada in the past, and was raised in Canada, but a source tells SBI that Akinola has yet to file a formal Change of Association with FIFA yet to finalize a switch from the United States to Canada.
Akinola is one of a handful of USMNT-eligible players who have been included in other Gold Cup preliminary rosters, including Efrain Alvarez (Mexico) and Seattle Sounders standout Alex Roldan, who has been called up by El Salvador. Coincidentally, Roldan’s brother Cristian is included in the USMNT preliminary roster.
The final 23-man rosters for the Gold Cup are due on June 30, prior to the start of the preliminary round of the competition, which is scheduled to begin on July 2nd.
Here is the full USMNT preliminary roster for the Gold Cup:
GOALKEEPERS: Brad Guzan (Atlanta United), Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Sean Johnson (New York City FC), Tim Melia (Sporting Kansas City), Matt Turner (New England Revolution)
DEFENDERS: Julian Araujo (LA Galaxy), George Bello (Atlanta United), Reggie Cannon (Boavista), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Tottenham Hotspur), Justin Che (FC Dallas), Kyle Duncan (New York Red Bulls), Chase Gasper (Minnesota United), Jonathan Gomez (Louisville City), Aaron Herrera (Real Salt Lake), Henry Kessler (New England Revolution), Shaq Moore (CD Tenerife), Erik Palmer-Brown (Manchester City), Kevin Paredes (D.C. United), Donovan Pines (D.C. United), Miles Robinson (Atlanta United), James Sands (New York City FC), Auston Trusty (Colorado Rapids), Sam Vines (Colorado Rapids), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC)
MIDFIELDERS: Kellyn Acosta (Colorado Rapids), Cole Bassett (Colorado Rapids), Gianluca Busio (Sporting Kansas City), Johnny Cardoso (Internacional), Caden Clark (New York Red Bulls), Leon Flach (Philadelphia Union), Julian Green (Greuther Fürth), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy), Djordje Mihailovic (CF Montreal), Moses Nyeman (D.C. United), Andres Perea (Orlando City), Paxton Pomykal (FC Dallas), Memo Rodriguez (Houston Dynamo), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders), Hassani Dotson (Minnesota United), Tanner Tessman (FC Dallas), Eryk Williamson (Portland Timbers), Jackson Yueill (San Jose Earthquakes)
FORWARDS: Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Frankie Amaya (FC Cincinnati), Paul Arriola (D.C. United), Corey Baird (Colorado Rapids), Cade Cowell (San Jose Earthquakes), Daryl Dike (Orlando City), Jeremy Ebobisse (Portland Timbers), Jesus Ferreira (FC Dallas), Nicholas Gioacchini (Caen), Matthew Hoppe (Schalke), Jonathan Lewis (Colorado Rapids), Rubio Rubin (Real Salt Lake), Chris Mueller (Orlando City), Ricardo Pepi (FC Dallas), Robbie Robinson (Inter Miami CF), Mason Toye (CF Montreal), Gyasi Zardes (Columbus Crew)
Surely Bradley is still good enough compared to the majority of these #6’s?
ochoa miller frei
richards CCV EPB zimmerman reynolds moore vines lichaj
green gall holmes ferreira dotson johnny
AJ wood arriola konrad musah llanez
wondering if some of you have caught the bizarre contradiction that is leaving promising players to work on their career situations while often leaving those same players out for supposed club form. so basically he has an excuse either way to omit the lead prospects on loan for roma or on the books at bayern, etc. and then from there he is the epiitome of the HR hiring person who wants experience to be hired.
As good of place as any to post this I guess. Lichaj suffered a hip injury in November. Once it became apparent it would be difficult to return before the end of the season he agreed to terminate his contract so the team could fill his foreign roster spot. He has not signed with a new club and has returned home to England. In a late April interview he said he was just getting back to running but hoped he’d be ready for the new season.
With the players not included from the NL, and players we saw during OQ. Do you think we’ll see close to 80 players in ‘21?
It’s actually bigger since you have these 59+25 from NL+ another good 15 or so that aren’t available because of club commitments in Europe.
c’mon dude, we see 23 dudes not 59. this is the longlist for the prize. some will never see a cap in their careers and 2/3 of them won’t be on this team, maybe have been capped before, maybe get capped in 2 years or something.
I did a quick count and we’re over 50 different players at this point. There is some overlap with the Jan. camp so I think the number will be over 60 by the end of the GC.
What I could easily see Gregg going with after trimming down the roster…
Keeper: Turner, Johnson, Guzan
Defense: Zimmerman, Robinson, Trusty, Kessler, Vines, Bello, Cannon, Araujo
Midfield: Acosta, Yueill, Lletget, Roldan, Green, Clark
Forwards: Arriola, Mueller, Dike, Zardes, Baird, Hoppe/Cowell
If Cowell does get selected I expect he (Like Clark) will get 20-30 minutes across the tournament.
Gregg has his favorites…guys that he believes are capable of contributing. Meanwhile we’ll continue to overlook players who could actually help the team…
I personally hope that the following make the cut:
CCV, EPB, Gomez, Busio, Flach, Pomykal, Cowell
-I think CCV and EPB will depend on club situation. If they are loaner or sold early they won’t be here. However, both have typically moved very late in transfer windows.
-if Clark makes the roster he’ll play more than 20 or 30 minutes. Cowell I could see not playing much. IMO he’s much farther away than Caden in his development. I could see Gregg loving his speed making runs in behind and play him a lot though too. Kind of depends on how big of a run they make, if they play 3 games or 6 makes a difference how much people play.
-Quick thoughts over 30 of these guys will be cut, so no use getting upset until June 30 when the final roster comes out.
-If the player you want to see plays in Europe and isn’t on the list it’s because their people and Gregg and Brian decided it was better for them to be in training camp with club. Gregg has been clear about that all year.
-It appears Akinola and Efra are lost. I’m not sure either would be ready to help this cycle but depth is usually a good thing.
-The final lineup is going to include some vets that have proven they aren’t good enough for first team. However, it’s not reasonable to try to bring in 23 brand new players for a tournament with one week prep. There will be vets in each section of the field to help build cohesion.
If Che plays in a GC, won’t he be cap tied to the US?
Yes, however if he does not play 4 matches he would able to file a one time switch 3 years after his last cap with the US because he is under 21.
Come on “MAN”! Guzan…Vines…Acosta…Roldan ..Altidore…Zardes!! Those guys suck and are old too improve!!
Only positives: Clark (best American MLS player),Flach (best DM in MLS), Busio, Che, Hoppe!
Sam Vines is 22. Is that too old to improve?
Too bad GB doesn’t rate Novakovich. Interesting to see Rubin on there. Nothing majorly surprising otherwise, KDLF has a club situation brewing
It will be interesting find Gomez accepts the call up. My guess is no but we will see.
He gave a recent interview where he talked about training with El Tri. It sounds like he really enjoyed his time. I think it hurts our cause a little that if he does come to training it won’t be with Reyna, CP, McKennie etc… He talked about how great the Mexican stars were to him. However, he basically said it’s going to come down to who is going to give him the best chance to play. Right now that’s probably the US. Gallardo is still in his prime Arteaga is only 22 and started next to McKenzie at Genk.
reynolds and richards can’t make that backfield? holmes can’t make that midfield? bobby wood and AJ can’t make a striker list that long, but jozy can? where’s musah? konrad? frei? ochoa?
the keeper list could have been printed out years ago.
4/5 of the keeper list, yes. turner is new
I hope Guzan isn’t really in the plans.
Musah, Reynolds, and Richards absence has been well established both have new managers and need to be with their clubs. Both have been in multiple camps and Berhalter knows what they can do.
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Bobby Wood will just then be available to play with RSL, and his 1 g in two years since his latest knee injury doesn’t earn a cap.
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Konrad has an imminent move, and needs to be at his club to learn the new system. He has also been in Berhalter camps and is known.
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Frei is 35.
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Ochoa just spent three weeks with NT, he’s only played 6 first team matches in his entire career he needs starts at RSL.
remember that both Richards and Reynold’s got injured before Nations League, furthermore they both need to be with their clubs for preseason considering they both don’t have spots locked down and Richards is still trying to figure out if he’ll be with either of Bayern or Hoffenheim. Greg already said he’s not calling in anyone from the Nations League roster so we will not see Acosta, Lleget or Yueill, n matter if they are on the provisional list, so it stands to reason that Musah won’t be there either!
If anyone thinks Reynolds will get anytime at Roma under Mourinho without attending training camp they’re insane.
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I wouldn’t be surprised if one or two of Lletget, Acosta, and Yueill do make the roster, I can’t see Berhalter bringing in a complete new midfield for a tournament.
sorry but i cannot pretend they got a full audition, are being considered for the team, and have been marked down as ready for GB. richards has played 82′ in 3 caps. reynolds played one half of one game. what you are missing is if they are left off to sort their career that probably dooms us to ream and miazga and all his other bad ideas for most if not all of this cycle. or at minimum says they won’t be the ones who challenge that.
re musah, he didn’t play a minute of NL and how is he getting to make his case when the coach won’t play him? GC would present his case and he could maybe even play both wing and center for this bunch. he sat his tookus all GC so there’s no way he’s tired and needs a break. like the others, this basically ensures he won’t have much role in quali. in his case, i think he makes the team but is like seeing the field against the worst teams. the coach is a moron.
Another IV conspiracy, Berhalter now is faking player injuries and even getting Hoffenheim to hold Richards out of their final matches all so he could not play Chris.
If not for your posting about GAA, in 2018. I wouldn’t have known Tim Melia GAA was better than Guzan’s. When Guzan was a USMNT regular. I remember, Melia won best GK of the MLS, and wasn’t getting any USMNT call ups. You were one of Melia’s biggest advocates. …and now, you don’t say anything about Melia’s inclusion. Select amnesia is strong with you, IV!! Since 2021 imperative has forgotten 2018 imperative, I’ll speak for Tim Melia’s inclusion … “Bout time!” Let’s hope he starting GK!!
Did you think I hadn’t looked? Miller’s GAA is 0.33. Frei’s GAA this season is a 0.4. At that point I don’t care if he’s 18 or 40. Liked him before anyway and he plays for a routine title competitor. And made a point of being available when he could be “Swiss.” Melia’s GAA is 1.0. In plain English he’s allowed twice the goals as Frei in one fewer game.
Now, Melia is slightly better than Ochoa on paper but I just like Ochoa.
Frei is injured he has missed the last three Sounders matches. He originally had a knee injury and then developed a blood clot so he is listed as out indefinitely. Smetzer in his injury report last week said they are hoping he’ll be back in August.
re your conspiracy comment, being injured in may doesn’t explain being absent or underplayed in the surrounding years. this is not aaron long. they’ve played maybe 90′ this cycle between themselves.
i mean your argument is like i leave a work project til the last minute and then come down sick. it’s actually a small part of the reason the project isn’t ready. whether the best player from the U20s signed by the best team in europe, is evaluated and ready, shouldn’t hinge on does he have a knock in may right before quali.