The 26-man USMNT roster for the upcoming extended training camp and friendly match against Bosnia and Herzegovina Dec. 18th has just been released, with a mostly MLS-dominated squad reporting to Carson, California in the coming days.
Head coach Gregg Berhalter, like the broader US soccer community, is treating the December camp as an opportunity to bring in new faces, mostly domestic-based, to the USMNT fold. The roster only features three players from leagues outside of the MLS, Johnny Cordosa (Internacional, Brazil), Bryan Reynolds (Roma, Italy), and Tyler Booth (Bayern Munich II, Germany).
The roster represents players from 12 different MLS teams, but also offers many familiar faces who have received prior call-ups to the senior USMNT; goalkeeper Matt Turner, defenders George Bello, Aaron Long, and Walker Zimmerman, midfielders Kellyn Acosta, Christian Roldan and Jackson Yueill, as well as forwards Jesus Ferreira, Jordan Morris, Ricardo Pepi, and Gyasi Zardes.
There are seven newcomers to this USMNT group, including Taylor Booth, Caden Clark, Jonathan Gomez, Kobi Henry, Kevin Paredes, John Pulskamp, and Gabriel Slonina. These new players will be balanced out by the eight players with more than double-digit appearances, Zardes (65), Acosta (44), Morris (39), Roldan (29), Zimmerman (22), Long (21, Yueill (15) and Turner (12).
This is Morris’ first time featuring for the USMNT since his loan move to Swansea where he tore his ACL in early-2021 before returning to the MLS.
“It’s been a great year for the group and our objective is to finish the year with a strong performance against Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Berhalter said in a US Soccer interview. “As we look towards 2022, this camp gives us the opportunity to see some new faces and allows our core domestic players to maintain their fitness levels.”
The players will be taking a shot at Bosnia and Herzegovina on December 18th at Dignity Health Sports Park. This will be the last game for the USMNT before the next round of qualification in January.
Which of these players would you like to see get the chance at joining the full squad for the next round of World Cup qualifiers in January?
DETAILED ROSTED BY POSITION (CLUB; CAPS/GOALS):
GOALKEEPERS (3): John Pulskamp (Sporting Kansas City; 0/0), Gabriel Slonina (Chicago Fire; 0/0), Matt Turner (New England Revolution; 12/0)
DEFENDERS (11): George Bello (Atlanta United; 5/0), Justin Che (FC Dallas; 0/0), Jonathan Gomez (Louisville City; 0/0), Kobi Henry (Orange County SC; 0/0), Henry Kessler (New England Revolution; 1/0), Brooks Lennon (Atlanta United; 0/0), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls; 21/3), Kevin Paredes (D.C. United; 0/0), Bryan Reynolds (Roma/ITA; 1/0), Auston Trusty (Colorado Rapids; 0/0), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC; 22/2)
MIDFIELDERS (5): Kellyn Acosta (Colorado Rapids; 44/2), Cole Bassett (Colorado Rapids; 0/0), Johnny Cardoso (Internacional/BRA; 2/0), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders; 29/0), Jackson Yueill (San Jose Earthquakes; 15/0)
FORWARDS (7): Taylor Booth (Bayern Munich II/GER; 0/0), Caden Clark (New York Red Bulls; 0/0), Cade Cowell (San Jose Earthquakes; 0/0), Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas; 4/2), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders; 39/10), Ricardo Pepi (FC Dallas; 6/3), Gyasi Zardes (Columbus Crew; 65/14)
