The list of 60 players vying to make the USMNT roster and lead it to glory at the 2021 Gold Cup includes some very intriguing propositions.
As expected in a group that big, there are the very young and quite experienced, the unknown and the too-familiar, and the names capable of making even national team pool nerds go scrambling to their favorite online player databases.
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It’s interesting that Gregg Berhalter has included eight players from outside North American club soccer and a ninth from USL side Louisville City (17-year-old defender Jonathan Gomez, who has represented the U.S. and Mexico at youth levels).
Here’s an example of the cross-section of experience on display.
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Exciting USYNT debutants: Gianluca Busio, Caden Clark, Ricardo Pepi, Moses Nyeman
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Older first-timers: Tim Melia, Memo Rodriguez, Eryk Williamson
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European imports: Julian Green, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Matthew Hoppe
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Old hats: Jozy Altidore, Brad Guzan, Gyasi Zardes
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USMNT regulars: Sebastian Lletget, Walker Zimmerman, Reggie Cannon.
How will he line them up? Who is a real long shot and who’s a true automatic? We have so… many… questions and one of them is, “If you’re dividing up four teams and playing a training camp tournament can we watch them all? Live stream, plz?”
Also of note is the inclusion of Ayo Akinola on Canada’s roster, who will be a Canadian national teamer for life should he appear in the Gold Cup.
Canada is not messing around with the tournament, by the way, as Jonathan David and Alphonso Davies highlight a team which will ready for the third round of World Cup qualifying rather than evaluate the player pool.
Mexico has gone very first-choice, too, following its loss to the USMNT in the CONCACAF Nations League Final. Diego Lainez, Hector Herrera, Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, Andres Guardado, and Hirving Lozano are among those going for Gold Cup glory.
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USMNT preliminary roster for 2021 Gold Cup
Goalkeepers: Bill Hamid, Sean Johnson, Matthew Turner, Brad Guzan.
Defenders: Walker Zimmerman, Sam Vines, Auston Trusty, James Sands, Miles Robinson, Donovan Pines, Kevin Paredes, Shaq Moore, Henry Kessler, Julian Araujo, George Bello, Reggie Cannon, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Justin Che, Kyle Duncan, Chase Gasper, Jonathan Gomez, Aaron Herrera.
Midfielders: Leon Flach, Gianluca Busio, Cole Bassett, Johnny Cardoso, Caden Clark, Julian Green, Sebastian Lletget, Djordje Mihailovic, Moses Nyeman, Andres Perea, Kellyn Acosta, Memo Rodriguez, Cristian Roldan, Hassani Dotson, Tanner Tessmann, Eryk Williamson, Jackson Yueill.
Forwards: Gyasi Zardes, Mason Toye, Matthew Hoppe, Robbie Robinson, Ricardo Pepi, Chris Mueller, Jonathan Lewis, Nicholas Gioacchini, Jesus Ferreira, Daryl Dike, Jeremy Ebobisse, Cade Cowell, Corey Baird, Paul Arriola, Frankie Amaya, Jozy Altidore.
USMNT releases 60-man Gold Cup prelim roster; Mexico recalls Chicharito originally appeared on NBCSports.com