The CONCACAF Gold Cup schedule gets underway for the U.S. men’s national team on Sunday night and there are several players needing strong performances to help boost their stock ahead of 2026.
From Malik Tillman to Mark McKenzie, plenty of players on Mauricio Pochettino’s roster can help themselves with a strong summer window before the start of the new European season. While many haven’t had tons of opportunities under the Argentine manager, there will be little room for mistakes with the World Cup less than 365 days away.
Here is a closer look at five USMNT players needing a strong run at the CONCACAF Gold Cup:
Malik Tillman
Malik Tillman’s production at club level has certainly made him a top target in European Football, but the attacking midfielder hasn’t been able to translate that over to the USMNT.
Tillman, 23, has registered just one assist in 18 USMNT caps to date, with that lone helper coming in a recent 2-1 loss to Turkey. Despite being a productive attacker for PSV over the past two seasons, Tillman has offered little in his USMNT appearances.
With Pochettino needing someone to step up in Christian Pulisic’s absence, Tillman has the ability to be that player. However, a quiet summer window could hurt his chances for involvement later this fall.
Mark McKenzie
The USMNT’s revolving door of center backs has continued this summer and Mark McKenzie is one that will want to lock down a starting spot.
After delivering a strong first season with Toulouse in France’s Ligue 1, McKenzie has featured in both of the USMNT’s match this month. The 26-year-old is one of the more versatile defenders in the center back pool, and could be a nice partner to Chris Richards long-term.
However, with Tim Ream and Miles Robinson also seeking minutes, McKenzie will have to limit any mistakes out of the back.
Matt Turner
Another position that isn’t guaranteed just yet in the USMNT squad is goalkeeper.
30-year-old Matt Turner has earned the bulk of the opportunities under Pochettino, but overall has shown worrying signs at times. Despite being of the more veteran keepers in the player pool, Turner hasn’t shown enough to guarantee himself the No. 1 job long-term.
With a reported move to Lyon edging closer to fruition though, Turner will have a golden opportunity to earn consistent minutes at club level over the next 12 months. First he will need to deliver a strong Gold Cup before that transfer potentially gets over the line.
Johnny Cardoso
The absences of Weston McKennie and Yunus Musah could very well open the door for Johnny Cardoso to pad his stock.
Cardoso, 23, featured against both Turkey and Switzerland, but endured a tough moment against Turkey which led to the equalizing goal of the match. An aggressive and hardworking midfielder, Cardoso hasn’t been up to his best so far this window.
Atletico Madrid and Tottenham remain interested in acquiring Cardoso this summer, but a poor summer could hurt his chances of a move from Real Betis.
Haji Wright
A quiet summer from Haji Wright could prove vital in his race to become a consistent player for the USMNT.
The 26-year-old Wright played just 25 minutes in the last two matches, despite delivering a double-digit goalscoring campaign for EFL Championship side Coventry City. Wright, who has four goals in 16 USMNT caps, hasn’t scored on the international stage since March 2024’s CONCACAF Nations League Final Four.
His versatility certainly helps his stock as a forward, but with Ricardo Pepi, Folarin Balogun, and Josh Sargent all remaining options in the player pool, Wright will face competition in the fall.
I really hope Jesse Marsch gets his dang mouth shut during this tournament. Quite frankly I never want to see this guy’s name mentioned with the USMNT ever. Become a Canadian citizen Jesse and stay in Canada.
What did he say? Spilled the tea.
Ferreira is not eligible for the GC. I like Ferreira but he’s been hurt off and on pretty much since 2023, which is why he hasn’t gotten another cap. He also chose to leave camp to go play preseason with Seattle in January. I’d want him at this GC but he’s playing in CWC. He also has scored 12 of his 15g against teams with an & in their name which colors his production some what.
(1) he played last weekend. he had a goal on SD the other day. what are you talking about, injured?
(2) if he was left off the provo roster, you’re missing my point there, ie, should he have been.
(3) we have guys like tillman, musah, LDLT getting regular minutes or even starting WHO HAVE NEVER DONE CRAP. like musah has a single goal his whole NT career. and you’re parsing someone’s 15 goals??????????????
(4) he got 7 of those goals last gold cup. methinks that makes you adequate for the next GOLD CUP.
i mean, if we’re deplying heuristics or dissing stats, can we do this across the board?
i mean you can’t understand how absurd it is to me to have someone in the pool with 15 goals and be watching white struggle.
or have someone in the pool with goals on france and belgium and be watching LDLT or sullivan struggle to be even adequate.
what i see is people have their little bullet points against other options they don’t apply to the people who actually play. this is supposed to be the best 23 who get the job done and not just on theoretical paper.
and i say this as someone who proposed malik and his brother for years as dual nationals. but at a point it’s put up or shut up and too much of this team is dictated by paper ideas of players many don’t fulfill. and then you have an excuse why not to use someone who scored in the panama clincher in WCQ and the panama game last gold cup.
Club World Cup
Mexico survived the Dominican Republic. DR were a lot of fun. Peter and American born Edison Azcona were a handful for El Tri’s vets. It’s too bad Junior Firpo stepped away do to fitness issues. Suriname has added a ton of dual nats who play in The Championship, Belgium and Netherlands. Costa Rica won’t be easy either.
Yep. Mexico was lucky to come out with the win. Concacaf is getting stronger something American fans and players need to recognize.
JR,
It’s early but if there was an MVP I’m voting for Raul Jimenez.
El Tri would be in such deep doo doo w/o him.
They look so different since he single handedly beat us.
i generally see this as like january camp. if you don’t dominate this summer why are you even in the A team roster going forward. we should be looking for the ones who impress us most of the time, or at what noobs offer. or conversely you’re watching for the screwups or mixed bags who cut themselves.
from the friendlies so far, richards adams mcglynn luna wright agyemang. and then maybe also downs freeman young aaronson once they have a body of work to judge.
i get that others may have something “at stake” but for most of your list but they could have a nice tnt and haiti game and i’d still question them even making the A team roster going forward after the friendlies. how do you forget? and i get you’re saying they could “play well at gold cup” and redeem themselves, but i’m skeptical players who routinely crap the bed don’t repeat their issues in at least some of the coming games.
it’s like people thought i was arguing brooks had 1 bad game. brooks had a bunch. but one was huge, the CR away loss that helped get klinsi fired. tigers don’t change their stripes.
for a B side you’re looking for the standouts.
you make the world cup. you’re playing japan or germany. do johnny or harriel see the field? really?
part of my problem with the US right now is we are soft on such questions. you don’t pick some theory or stats 23. you pick the ones you think might do it in that moment, based on track record. right now we want to take out a stats spreadsheet and argue with their track record.
that is confusing scouting for your first cap with picking a team for a world cup, who you should trust in your bones based on shirt performances.
This may be that Gold Cup where we start to see some separation on this roster. This list highlights veterans who need a strong showing this summer, but we have seen fringe players emerge from past summers.
– I like Hagi Wright, but this GC may be the breakout for a guy like Patrick Agyemang. The tools and athleticism are there, and it may be just the experience he lacks. If he really impresses this summer, does he push to make a transfer to Europe?
– The same goes for Alex Freeman. He has great pace and athleticism, qualities any coach would covet for a wingback. It remains to be seen if he has enough to transition to the next level.
– This GC looks like the perfect opportunity for Diego Luna to make a huge impression. The USMNT roster could use an attacking midfielder with his skill set, and right now, players like Reyna and Aaronson are not locks.
– Miles Robinson stayed in MLS because Cincy offered him the most money. You cannot blame a player for not taking a pay cut to play in Europe. But our usual position of strength (CB) is lacking depth, with our best defender aging out. It’s now or never for Miles.
Reports no Adams at practice during the open time for media.
(1) you don’t carry hurt players for third rate tournaments.
(2) you’re allowed an injury switch 24 hrs before the first gametime.
(3) you screw this up and you’re stuck with johnny as your primary DM (at least on paper) for the vast majority of minutes.
(4) we badly need to find non-adams DM options that can ball and johnny just raised basic questions if that’s him.
Pochettino to the press: “close” to returning, “maybe he will be available tomorrow.”
-unless it just hasn’t been announced they have missed the window to replace him.
you have 2 DM total. one of whom is an injury risk. the other hasn’t even yet proven ready for the task. that’s a basic roster failure. i gave you a pretournament list of options, maloney, dietz, sands, eneli. you chuckled. and they’re ineligible.
you dither and the replacement chance disappears. you don’t get to change after more games. this was the window.
i’ve suggested luna there but that’s a personal thought bubble.
or maybe someone like freeman or richards with some stay at home capabilities. while mostly a wingback i occasionally played DM in college with the instruction to mark some dangerman 10 out of a game. it’s a little more complicated if you try to do more of a normal midfield zonal shifting around.
but defense is defense. the candidate just needs to have the soccer IQ, stamina, and defensive knack to do the gig.
-Usually the media is allowed in at the start of practice. Adams may well have come out after the media left after receiving extra treatment. Given that they’ve only ever said “foot injury” and didn’t replace him it doesn’t seem major. If he doesn’t play in the tournament yes it was a mistake to not replace. However, replacing him with Sands and his broken leg seems a worse choice.
– I believe Richards played some DM last season for Palace. Berhalter is as much a six as Johnny. I believe Tillman replaced Johnny next to Tessman away at Jamaica.
– They’ve done these days evals and scans if there’s no damage to the bones or ligaments nothing wrong with letting the bruise heal and move on.
Sargent and LDLT??
I am over Cardoso, literally definition of insanity. Doing same thing over and over expecting different results. Its enough to make you go loco in la cabeza. Can’t take he is able to get multiple chances.
Loco en la cabeza
You have to wonder if the USMNT is putting him in the right role. He’s really good for Betis, and has Simeone trying to bring him to Athletico.
Johnnyrazor,
The right role? Betis play a straight forward 4-2-3-1 under Pellegrini and Cardoso lines up as one of the two holding midfielders. Very similar, if not the same, as what Poch has shown for the USMNT in 2025.
It is not time to give up on Johnny Cardoso, but his challenges with the USMNT are not because of him not being played in the right role.
Papi: I was traveling and missed most of the matches, but it looked like he was playing a lot deeper than he does for Betis. I know on a lineup sheet it looks the same but I’m not sure he’s being asked to accomplish the same things. He certainly isn’t a like for like for Adams who subbed on for him. He plays more that Musah or Wes shuttling role for Betis in my limited viewing of them. Maybe his defense at Betis just covers for his mistakes more. Just hard to figure out how he looks good against Real Madrid and Athletico or Barca and so bad against Türkiye.
Johnnyrazor,
I understand and appreciate what you mean…not all 4-2-3-1’s are the same…but there was no tactical wrinkle that had Johnny playing deeper for the USMNT than he does at Betis.
It’s fairly simple…Johnny has not played well for the UMSNT and that is on him, not the formation, not any tactical wrinkles, etc. Additionally, he plays with better players at Betis than he does with the USMNT and as result, it does not expose his limitations as much.
JR,
A.) Some players just make everyone else better as soon as you put them in the lineup.
B.) Some players blossom as soon as you put them on a better team with better players and coaches.
My guess is Johnny is more Player B than Player A.
We’ll find out soon enough if he does go with Simeone and does well.
The other thing to remember is that he has spent a whole lot more time training and practicing with Betis than with the USMNT.
Johnny has 20 caps but they have been spent lining up along side a rotating cast of characters for a couple of days.
I’m not sure how much you can alter how you play in a 4-2-3-1, but maybe they have to accept that Johnny can’t play an USMNT version and tinker with it. It looks like the the solution is to keep playing him until he gets comfortable with what they come up with. If Pochettino can’t afford to wait then they just have to drop him and move on.
Johnny has spent 2 seasons , 44 games and who knows how many days of training with Betis. Just looking at the numbers and not even getting into which set of players and coaches is “better”, it should not surprise anyone that Johnny does better with Betis.
you quibble with me over saying our tactics are wrong, then say johnny needs another role. which i understand to be saying, play him and our concept different. ie change tactics.
to be clear the way the convo comes across to me, he may play higher up for betis. that is not how many DM do it. and betis has an unusually high goals against for a team as high as they are in the table.
that and what this team badly needs is more effective DMs to kill counter transitions or at least turn them around. they need to keep looking for semi-adams and he’s not that.
basic problem i see with the US is it’s like the way we play varies depending who shows up. and there is a little of that with every team, but it comes across like we call stats lines and name brands as opposed to bring in types to fit tactical wishes.
dude, you fought me pointlessly hard on this the other day. he is not a defensive stopper. if some scout or isolated performance had atleti thinking he was, he isn’t. he would drive simeone insane.
i personally think your information is dated. maybe they liked johnny from october when betis upset a struggling atleti. then atleti went on its run and gave the big 2 a scare. and when they played betis again this april it was 4-1 their way with johnny starting the loss.
we keep trying to find passing 6s when what we need are stoppers. you’re gonna ship a couple or more goals a night if you play a 433 variation without someone to thwart transitions. the goals we ship are so easy. groan inducing. and then out scheme makes scoring a goal for us into water torture.
think about teams like units. think about team tactics. quit picking stats lines.
If you are a general manager for a club team in Europe, do you care more about Cardoso’s performance in La Liga or his performance in some national team games? Similarly, do you, as a national team manager, ignore a player who does so well in La Liga that he may be getting offers from a team as good as Athletico Madrid or better? How many games has he played in La Liga and how many games has he played as a national team member? How well does Cardoso do in pracdtices compared to other team members that play his position? Personally, I figure that a general manager for a team in a top 5 league knows how to judge talent better than a fan. As for myself, I’m not anti or pro Cardoso. As a social scientist, I consider that there are many variables, including the team and teammates he his playing with may greatly affect his performance. Another factor is how often he has played with a team and/or his teammates in different venues. Personally, I have been disappointed with Tillman’s national team performance, but that doesn’t mean you don’t keep him on the team while he is still playing very well in Holland. Maybe the problem is how Pochettino is using him.
Gary,
“… do you care more about Cardoso’s performance in La Liga or his performance in some national team games?”
La Liga
“Similarly, do you, as a national team manager, ignore a player who does so well in La Liga that he may be getting offers from a team as good as Athletico Madrid or better?”
Sure, if he doesn’t perform for you.
It’s not a similar situation.
You are asking the wrong question.
Simeone, unlike our Argentinian manager, will have a whole lot of practice and games in which to learn Johnny what he wants from him. In other word, Diego has money and big, deep, tough, talented squad and has the TIME to develop Johnny and inculcate the “Atletico Madrid Way” into Johnny’s little head. He does not need him yesterday.
Pochettino needs Johnny yesterday. Pochettino has no time. Johnny either fits the rough plan he has in mind or he does not. If he doesn’t and he can’t adapt in whatever time they have left , tough shit, it’s next man up.
Johnny’s quality, his talent is not in question.
The only question is can he adapt it to what the USMNT needs leading up to and in the 2026 World Cup?.
This is not rocket science.
It’s not exactly a great mystery. Either he can or he can’t.
I assume the Gold Cup is Johnny’s last chance to make his case.
In competitive matches
1169 mins 3g 5a Player A
1222 min 3g 3a Brenden Aaronson
1717 min 3g 3a Player B
Anyone want to take a guess about the US stars, I’ve left unnamed?
————————————
None of these stats include prior Gold Cups.
O’brien and Holden
Nope, current player pool. One is currently considered a lock by most the other used to be but some have now given up.
Tele, you’ve now sent me deeper down the rabbit hole.
Holden 1009 mins 3g 3a
O’Brien 1318 mins 3g 2a
—————————
Also not Paul Arriola
1823 5g 6a
If you take out his 2019 GC
821 3g 3a
I think it will shock most that Paul’s numbers in competitive matches is better than my two unnamed players.
-remember friendly numbers not included.
Sargent and LDLT??
Sargent 3g 0a 783 mins (really 3g in 180 minutes vs Cuba)
Luca 0g 4a 573 mins
Also not Busio 1g 3a 998 mins
– Neither are on this GC roster.
Oops. I missed competitive matches. One has to be Reyna, maybe Brooks?
Reyna is Player A
find whatever pasty faced glass wearing analytics dork handed you this stupid semantics game and give them a big ol’ wedgie. and i say that as someone whose own wife calls him her mathlete.
in nations league championship games, reyna:
(a) 1G 1A vs. mexico when we won 3-2 in 2021;
(b) 2A vs. canada when we won 2-0 in 2023;
(c) 1G vs. mexico when we won 2-0 in 2024.
he got benched for the world cup. he doesn’t play GC. so he has limited other chance to add “competitive” goals.
your “competitive” parse also serves to make 8G 5A overall somehow look bad.
i then have to read some childish, heavily parsed argument he can’t do anything in competitive matches.
do you think most countries in the world would try this hard to bench someone who routinely lights it up in regional finals? if some dude in england or spain or france had this record in winning euro finals they would build them a darned statue.
you then use this awful awful awful semantics argument to talk up aaronson, whose Big Tournament Game History consists of he once set up pefok 4 years ago in a semi. that’s it.
and you ignore that as coach’s favorite, aaronson has been in 28 competitive internationals to reyna’s 20, and has less productivity.
and while aaronson does match reyna’s overall numbers including friendlies, he has done so in 50% more caps.
do i really need to explain to someone making a math nerd argument production PER NINETY?? or do i really need to explain to a supposed soccer fan how some games are a Bigger Deal than others??
ie, i want the guy who scores in regional finals or world cups. you seem to want the guys who score on grenada or oman, or who racked them up for norwich in some second division.
-Scoring on Canada in Qualifying is meaningless, assisting against Jamaica in qualifying doesn’t count but assisting against them in NL does, not sure I understand.
-I would pick Weah and Reyna all day everyday over Aaronson, but your a hypocrite when you’re constantly talking about “doing it in the shirt” then you’ve been blasting Aaronson all week because Tab Ramos (who you saw with your Dynamo had some flaws) cut him 6 years ago. How are Soto, Rennicks, Akinola, Konrad Jr., Pomykal, Mendez, Servania, Llanez, Cerrillo, Durkin, Real, Keita, Scott, Ochoa, and Gloster doing these days? Only a couple are even playing MLS level at this point and several are already retired. Obviously, he got some picks wrong everyone does.
– The whole point was none of us are using analytics, we’re using our feelings and emotions. Just about everyone considers Weah a roster lock yet his production is lower than BA or Gio that are looked down on these days. Tim wasn’t a regular starter for Juve this year, but no one questions his club minutes.
-Absolutely nobody wanted Arriola getting call ups in 2021/22 but he’s produced more in competitive matches than these three.
IV,
“do you think most countries in the world would try this hard to bench someone who routinely lights it up in regional finals? if some dude in england or spain or france had this record in winning euro finals they would build them a darned statue.”
For every sentence that an average SBI poster submits, you submit about 3/4 of a page. single spaced.
Why you do this who knows? But it has the following effects:
A.) Whatever the issue is, you have very often said something supporting whichever side works best for you at that time. That way you are never going to be on the wrong side of an issue. You can always refer to something where you supported whichever side of the argument is convenient for you.
People don’t generally engage with you at length or question whether you are contradicting yourself because the sheer mass of copy that is likely to generate makes it not worth the effort. I generally only deal with you if it relates to a specific question or a point that I can answer or debate.
I know because that is also true for me. No one likes the fact that I try to answer their points as completely as I can. Comparatively, it is a lot of reading. If that takes a certain length, so be it.
The difference between you and me is that you can pretty much look up just about everything I write, though most people probably won’t because it is often a pain in the ass to do so.
You on the other hand often just make stuff up out of thin air, knowing full well that most people are not going to bother running it down. You obviously have been following our current political leaders and taking notes.
Your bullshit about Reyna for example;.
“do you think most countries in the world would try this hard to bench someone”
His latest serious injury came while he was on international duty. Since then he’s had a weird and difficult time with BVB who keep sending mixed signals about Gio. And the last time that Pochettino had Gio in, our own fitness people said he was not fit to play. You remain miffed because you keep thinking that the USMNT missed an opportunity in case Gio got a transfer to a non CWC club and would then be available for the Gold Cup.
Your thinking is flawed. Gio should not be on the GC roster:
A.) If Gio does get a transfer, he then needs to focus on getting ready to transition to his new club. The preseason program is particularly important and for many clubs, that starts just after the Gold Cup if not before. with his new club.
B.) There are two players on the Gold Cup roster, Captain Jack and Malik who play in roles where you might normally see Gio. They need to play as much as possible in the GC.
C.) If Gio gets back to his best he’ll have the South Korea and Japan games at the end of 2025 to show his stuff. And if the real Gio is back, there’s no doubt he’s on the WC team. So for me Gio is not an issue.
For some reason you like to pose that you are the only person on SBI who has been Gio’s champion, while everyone else was calling him a diva shitbag. That’s just a steaming pile of manure.
People on SBI generally love Gio . They hate his parents but we almost all realize that a healthy, in-form Gio makes the USMNT so much better.
You should retire this “try this hard to bench” Gio angle because it is juvenile and not true. And you are not the “genius” who discovered him.
JR: first, y’all have at trying to kneecap weah and reyna, and hold off campbell. we have next to no wing presence now. and pulisic plays more like an inverting portuguese wing who takes people on. this offense is designed to funnel to the 9. that requires 10s and wings to feed the 9.
dude, i didn’t list 2/3 those guys as NT prospects. ever. you’re confusing the fed selected U20 team with those i proposed. i watch enough U20 to know which ones are worth the time. that’s part of the reason this call sheet drives me nuts. luna is about the only one off this list who showed well at worlds.
the guys who looked good at U20 worlds were luna, pukstas, and cowell. the defense was crap. sullivan was anonymous. guess who i am watching on the NT now? exactly.
kind of like the first years after U20 i am watching the guy who got cut, aaronson (but who found a club team to start him), or dest who would get beat for goals and looked raw, and not richards/ weah/
and if i wanted to be snooty, soto may have only gotten 2 caps, but he also had 2 NT goals, which is still more than musah or LDLT. he made some stupid stupid career decisions that basically crippled him. what kind of an idiot signs norwich when he can’t get a work permit?
V: you care way too much what other teams think of our players. what matters is do you get it done for us. he does. period.
the rest is noise.
the vast majority of the B.1 would be happy to get either reyna or campbell. schalke’s U19 coach said as much about campbell. or the far less successful teams most of our NT guys suit up for.
what we’ve done is set up a perverse system where the most talented players signed at the best teams that are the hardest to make, are some of the latest players to get trialed for the NT “because he doesn’t have first team minutes.”
i remember this same stupid argument being wielded against weah and richards. who were stars on U20. who were signed at the best clubs. we care too much about their opinion.
we didn’t care whether bayer played landon. we didn’t wait for pulisic to be a dortmund regular just a decade ago.
you can play your little european follower game. i will watch for talent. we have talent not getting used.
IV,
IV
“V: you care way too much what other teams think of our players. what matters is do you get it done for us. he does. period….the rest is noise.”
?? What are you talking about? You are contradicting yourself. Players who aren’t playing for the first team are more subject to injury when thrust into the new environment of a national team. Using regular first team minutes as a metric is a plausible way to help protect players. I thought you cared about player fitness and protecting them from injury,
“the vast majority of the B.1 would be happy to get either reyna or campbell. schalke’s U19 coach said as much about campbell. or the far less successful teams most of our NT guys suit up for.”
?? No shit. Who said otherwise?
“what we’ve done is set up a perverse system where the most talented players signed at the best teams that are the hardest to make, are some of the latest players to get trialed for the NT “because he doesn’t have first team minutes.”
??We? Who are we? You want the most talented players to go to the teams that are the best at developing them. BVB have proven their ability with young players over the years including CP and Gio.
Sancho said he chose BVB because he saw what they did with CP earning first team minutes very quickly. Which means you can blame the Bellingham boys on CP as well.
As for the amount of first team minutes, there are a lot of factors that go into that. In Gio’s case he proved himself worthy of first team minutes very quickly, quicker than most. Due to a combination of injury and hard luck he has been short of first team minutes recently.
“i remember this same stupid argument being wielded against weah and richards. who were stars on U20. who were signed at the best clubs. we care too much about their opinion.”
Weah and Richards are now probably unquestionably on the WC 2026 roster. They have jumped through all the hoops. So the first team minutes variable is not a stupid argument.
“we didn’t care whether bayer played landon.”
Once Landon wasn’t playing at Leverkusen he very quickly got his lonesome self loaned back to the Quakes in 2001. If you don’t believe me look at the roster for the 2002 World Cup and you will see him listed as a Quakes player. So he wasn’t playing reserve team games when he went to the 2002 World Cup.
” we didn’t wait for pulisic to be a dortmund regular just a decade ago.”
CP had played more games for BVB’s first team than Campbell has and was well on his way to being a first team regular when JK capped him. If you’re trying to say that , compared to CP, Campbell has done enough to get his first cap, well Pochettino does not agree with you. And this is not a pissing contest. There’s nothing wrong with capping a player a little later. Better that than capping a player too early. I’m sure if Campbell tears it up at the CWC that he ‘ll get some love at the end of 2025.
“you can play your little european follower game. i will watch for talent. we have talent not getting used.”
btw, ferreira has 15G 4A in 23 caps. including 12G 1A in “competitive” games.” he scored in the panama clincher in 2021. he had 7G including the semi OT equalizer that briefly kept us alive in 2023 gold cup.
green has goals on france (friendly) and belgium (knockouts). wright had a similar goal on holland in the knockouts, 2G on jamaica in the 2024 NL semi, and a friendly goal on morocco.
pulisic i used to criticize for not scoring big game goals but had that huge goal on iran. also a goal on bolivia at copa, 2G on mexico in the 23 semi.
some others who have gotten job done in big stages-
agyemang managed what little production we got NL this year;
balogun had goals on bolivia and panama at copa and a goal on canada in the NL final;
pepi had a goal on mexico in the 23 semi;
weah had a goal on wales in the world cup.
plus reyna’s history.
you can now proceed to point out sargent or aaronson or whatever Big Game Disappearance Witness Protection Program stat-boy favorites you want to argue for instead.