The United States Men’s National Team kicks off their busy 2024 schedule with the traditional January friendly, giving head coach Gregg Berhalter the chance to see many of his otherwise untested domestic options in action.
The game takes place in San Antonio’s Toyota Field, home of second-division, USL club San Antonio FC, and is the first international game to be hosted in the south-Texas stadium.
With only three of the players on the roster having more than ten national team appearances, and a total of 16 having yet to take the field for the Red, White and Blue, the game is sure to see one of the more experimental lineups for the team in recent memory.
Considering that the game occurs outside of any FIFA window, will not permanently cap-tie any dual-nationals, and is against a similarly inexperienced Slovenian squad, what the players show on the field is likely of equal importance to how they already performed in the extended camp leading up to the 90 minutes.
For the small handful of veterans who are regulars on the main squad or already drifting around the fringes, the game is a way to keep fresh during the break before MLS training camps begin, and stay in the mind of Berhalter as he plans his personnel approach to both the Nations League and Copa América later this year.
Thus, it would not be surprising to see Miles Robinson and James Sands anchor the central defense from the opening whistle, with some combination of Shaq Moore, John Tolkin and DeJuan Jones playing the outside positions.
However, the game will be another chance to see former U20 star Caleb Wiley, a former backline mate of Robinson at Atlanta before his off-season move to Cincinnati, in action with the adults in what will likely be his second senior cap.
Should Berhalter opt to hand one of the less experienced central defense options a place alongside Robinson, then Sands could be moved forward into a defensive midfield role to add a veteran presence to an otherwise inexperienced group.
Most likely, Timothy Tillman, who has been impressive for LAFC since joining from 2. Bundesliga club Fürth one year ago, will be at the center of Berhalter’s midfield formation, for what will be his first USMNT appearance since officially switching from Germany several months ago.
However, the front line, where the available options have a grand total of zero caps as a group, is where all bets are off. Brian White is the veteran of the bunch, having made his professional debut with the Red Bulls back in 2018, however the real excitement is to see how the younger bunch of prospects will hold up.
Most notably, New England’s 18 year-old attacker Esmir Bajraktarevic is one of the most highly-regarded American youngsters in the game right now, and is expected to be caught in a game of tug-of-war between the United States and Bosnia in the coming months and years.
Diego Luna has been one of the stars for the U-20 side, playing a major role to their advancement to the quarterfinals of last year’s World Cup in Argentina. However, whether and how his raw, scrappy style of play translates to the senior level is one of the more intriguing questions amongst the crop of players coming up from the youth teams.
Finally, the goalkeeping options have an equal number of combined appearnces as the attacking front, namely none at all, however Inter Miami’s Drake Callender has been called into previous USMNT camps, so he could have the edge to start the game.
The Slovenian squad, led by head coach Matjaž Kek since 2018, mostly consists of players from their domestic league, which is in its winter break until mid-February, and a handful of participants from MLS, Denmark and UAE.
They are beginning the process of preparing for their upcoming appearance in the 2024 UEFA European championship, although it’s doubtful that many of the players in the squad Saturday will make the trip to Germany.
Zan Karnicnik might be the major exception, as the defender was a major part of their qualifying campaign, and seems to have still maintained his national team status despite playing domestically.
This game will be the third time that these two teams have met, although, like their 2011 face-off in Ljubljana, will ultimately become a forgotten side-note in comparison to the memorable events of the 2010 World Cup.
After the Americans fought back from a 2-0 halftime deficit in that game to pull even in the final minutes, a seeming late winner by Maurice Edu was inexplicably waved off by the referee sending the final result to a draw. The US still eventually won the group over second-place England, but exited in the round of 16.
Kickoff on Saturday is early for a weekend game, as the ball will start rolling at 2pm local time, 3pm Eastern time.
