Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Tim Weah highlight the first U.S. men’s national team roster under new coach Mauricio Pochettino.
Pochettino summoned 25 players for his first camp in charge of the U.S., though he had to reach deeper into the pool with several injuries to regular national team players.
The U.S. will play friendlies against Panama on October 12 in Austin, Texas, and Mexico on October 15 in Guadalajara.
Pulisic comes into this U.S. camp in impressive form, with five goals and two assists in eight games with AC Milan. The trio of strikers selected by Pochettino have also been producing regularly. Folarin Balogun has scored in back-to-back games with Monaco, Ricardo Pepi scored twice for PSV Eindhoven last weekend and Josh Sargent has a goal and two assists in his last two games with Norwich City.
Tyler Adams (back) and Sergino Dest (ACL) remain out after surgeries. Several national team regulars are also dealing with injuries or did not play in recent club matches, including Gio Reyna, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Luca de la Torre, Chris Richards and Kevin Paredes.
The U.S. will be happy to see Weah back in the group after missing out due to injury in September. Several other players are back after not being called last month, including Antonee Robinson, Miles Robinson and McKennie.
Interestingly, Pochettino has included four goalkeepers in the squad, calling Zack Steffen back into camp for the first time since March 2023. Steffen has not played in a game for the U.S. since World Cup qualifiers ahead of Qatar in 2022.
Also back in the team is Gianluca Busio, who featured for the U.S. Olympic team. Busio has represented the U.S. at two Gold Cups.
The roster has an average age of 25 years, 160 days as of the first day of training on Oct. 7 and has players at clubs in 10 different countries.
Who has a chance to make a big impression?
With a new coach, everyone is going to get an opportunity to make an impression on Pochettino. These are all new faces to him.
That being said, considering the absence of Adams on the team, it’s a big chance for someone like Aidan Morris, who has played well at Middlesbrough and will now get a chance to play significant minutes in this camp — potentially ahead of Johnny Cardoso, who struggled in his start in September against Canada.
The battle at goalkeeper also is super interesting, with Steffen potentially looking to fight back into the picture after missing out on the World Cup, but Patrick Schulte coming off of a strong performance in September.
USMNT squad October 2024 (Club/Country; Caps/Goals)
Goalkeepers: (4): Ethan Horvath (Cardiff City/WAL; 9/0), Patrick Schulte (Columbus Crew; 2/0), Zack Steffen (Colorado Rapids; 29/0), Matt Turner (Crystal Palace/ENG; 45/0)
Defenders: (8): Marlon Fossey (Standard Liege; 1/0), Kristoffer Lund (Palermo/ITA; 5/0), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse/FRA; 14/0), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC; 62/1), Antonee Robinson (Fulham/ENG; 46/4), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati; 29/3), Joe Scally (Borussia Monchengladbach/GER; 12/0), Auston Trusty (Celtic/SCO; 2/0)
Midfielders: (7): Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United/ENG; 44/8), Gianluca Busio (Venezia/ITA; 13/1), Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis/ESP; 17/0), Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA; 56/11), Aidan Morris (Middlesbrough/ENG; 7/0), Yunus Musah (AC Milan/ITA; 41/0), Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven/NED; 14/0)
Forwards: (6): Folarin Balogun (Monaco/FRA; 17/5), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven; 30/10), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan/ITA; 73/31), Josh Sargent (Norwich City/ENG; 25/5), Timothy Weah (Juventus/ITA; 41/6), Haji Wright (Coventry City/ENG; 13/4)
(Timothy A.Clary/AFP via Getty Images)
