Sarachan Calls 21 Players for Friendly against Third-Ranked Portugal
November 7, 2017 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) News Release
CHICAGO - With an eye towards the future, U.S. Men's National Team acting head coach Dave Sarachan has called 21 players into training camp in advance of the USA's final match of 2017, a friendly against third-ranked Portugal on Nov. 14 in Leiria.
Kickoff at Estádio Dr.Magalhães Pessoa is set for 3:45 p.m. ET, and the match will be broadcast live on FS1, UniMas and UDN. Fans can also follow live on Facebook and Twitter at @ussoccer and @ussoccer_esp.
"The one word that I would use in reference to all of this is opportunity," Sarachan said. "It's an opportunity for many players who haven't been in the picture that we feel have a bright future with the National Team to get to measure themselves in a game against a quality opponent. It's an opportunity for our National Team to finish out 2017 in a positive way. It's also just an opportunity to move on. As much as we're still gutted from how things turned out with qualifying, we have to look ahead and finish out the year the right way."
READ MORE: Sarachan Discusses Roster Decisions
U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION (Club; Caps/Goals):
GOALKEEPERS (3): Jesse Gonzalez (FC Dallas; 0/0), Bill Hamid (Midtjylland/DEN; 3/0), Ethan Horvath (Club Brugge/BEL; 1/0)
DEFENDERS (7 ): John Brooks (Wolfsburg/GER; 32/3), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Sheffield United/ENG; 0/0), Eric Lichaj (Nottingham Forest/ENG; 13/1), Matt Miazga (Vitesse/NED; 3/1), Tim Ream (Fulham/ENG; 26/1), Jorge Villafaña (Santos Laguna/MEX; 14/0), DeAndre Yedlin (Newcastle United/ENG; 48/0)
MIDFIELDERS (7 ): Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas; 16/1), Tyler Adams (New York Red Bulls; 0/0), Alejandro Bedoya (Philadelphia Union; 65/2), Lynden Gooch (Sunderland/ENG; 2/0), Weston McKennie (Schalke/GER; 0/0), Kelyn Rowe (New England Revolution; 3/1), Danny Williams (Huddersfield Town/ENG; 22/2)
FORWARDS (4 ): Juan Agudelo (New England Revolution; 26/3), Dom Dwyer (Orlando City SC; 3/2), C.J. Sapong (Philadelphia Union; 2/0), Josh Sargent (St. Louis Scott Gallagher; 0/0)
YOUTH SERVED
As the performances of the past year have shown, there are a number of promising prospects in the U.S. program, and several of them will gain seasoning with the senior team in this camp. More than half the players on the U.S. roster are 24 years old or younger, and seven players have taken part in the USA's previous two U-20 World Cup cycles: Kellyn Acosta, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Lynden Gooch, Ethan Horvath, Matt Miazga, Weston McKennie and Josh Sargent.
SEASONING SPRINKLED IN
Not all the youth is coupled with inexperience. 2014 FIFA World Cup veterans John Brooks and DeAndre Yedlin will be part of the nucleus of the squad in the next cycle. The starting right back for Newcastle, Yedlin is just two shy of 50 appearances for the United States. In Portugal, they will be bolstered by the veteran leadership of Alejandro Bedoya and Tim Ream. This group is also populated with players who have tasted success at the international level, as a total of 10 were part of the 2017 Gold Cup-winning squad.
ON THE INJURED LIST
A few of the USA's best and brightest were unavailable for selection due to injury. Paul Arriola had a minor procedure immediately following the season for D.C. United. Jordan Morris continues to recover from a hamstring injury, while Bobby Wood has been dealing with a lingering knee issue and will use the international break to receive treatment. In addition, players involved in their league playoffs were allowed to remain with their clubs.
National Women's Soccer League Stories from November 7, 2017
- FC Kansas City and Vlatko Andonovski Part Ways - FC Kansas City
- USA's Schedule Set for 2018 CONCACAF - NWSL
- Sarachan Calls 21 Players for Friendly against Third-Ranked Portugal - NWSL
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