The United States has their team for upcoming friendlies against Colombia and Ireland. Jurgen Klinsmann named a 25-man squad for the matches, bringing in eight MLS players to go with one from Liga MX, while the rest play their club soccer in Europe.
Jurgen Klinsmann names 25-man USMNT team for friendlies against Colombia, Ireland
Team includes eight players from MLS, one from Liga MX.
Kevin C. Cox
Of the eight MLS players, only two are in the conference finals. Lee Nguyen and Jermaine Jones' New England Revolution are still alive, so the expectation is they will play the friendly against Colombia, then return to prepare for their playoff match and skip the Ireland friendly. DeAndre Yedlin's Seattle Sounders are also still in the playoffs, but they have not yet qualified for the Western Conference final so there may be no conflict.
The roster lacks some of the best American players, like Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley. Dempsey’s Sounders may still be in the playoffs and he’s talked about needing time off, while Bradley recently underwent foot surgery.
DaMarcus Beasley makes his return to the team, so he clearly is not out of the picture yet, while Jordan Morris is back on the squad again so the college kid is getting another look. The same is true of Miguel Ibarra, who is the lone lower division player on the roster.
It is a little strange that Klinsmann called up a big squad, because he doesn’t usually bring in 25 players, but MLS probably had a lot to do with that. With Nguyen and Jones likely leaving the team after the first match, the U.S. needs a couple extra players on the team, and Klinsmann has long said that the MLS offseason is too long so he could have called in a couple extra players from the league to keep them playing and active.
The U.S. will play Colombia at Craven Cottage in London, England Friday, November 14 at 2:45 p.m. ET. That match will be televised on ESPN. Four days later, the Americans will be in Dublin to take on Ireland at 2:45 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
Defenders: DaMarcus Beasley (Houston Dynamo), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), John Brooks (Hertha Berlin), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Timmy Chandler (Eintracht Frankfurt), Greg Garza (Club Tijuana), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Monchengladbach), Jermaine Jones (New England Revolution), DeAndre Yedlin (Seattle Sounders FC)
Midfielders: Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes), Mix Diskerud (Rosenborg), Julian Green (Hamburg), Alfredo Morales (Ingolstadt), Lee Nguyen (New England Revolution)
Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Sunderland), Miguel Ibarra (Minnesota United FC), Jordan Morris (Stanford), Rubio Rubin (Utrecht), Bobby Wood (1860 Munich), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)
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