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Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
USMNT Gold Cup roster: Sergiño Dest joins list of missing stars, as others see 'big opportunity'
Diego Luna will have another opportunity this summer to further establish himself with the U.S. men's national team. (Photo by John Dorton/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF) Christian Pulisic was already resting. Antonee Robinson is recovering from surgery. Weston McKennie, Tim Weah and Gio Reyna are with their clubs. Yunus Musah is missing for "personal reasons," and Josh Sargent for "football reasons"; Folarin Balogun and Ricardo Pepi are injured. And on Thursday, Sergiño Dest joined the list of U.S. men's national team stars who'll be absent this summer. The skillful fullback, who tore his ACL last spring and returned to action in March, has been left off the USMNT's roster for the 2025 Gold Cup for fitness reasons. Advertisement Head coach Mauricio Pochettino said Thursday in a statement through a spokesman that his staff had "done a series of evaluations this week on all the players in camp, and in the case of Sergiño, we determined the best decision is for the player to have an individualized training program for the summer so he can focus on being fully recovered and ready to perform next season." Dest's absence will leave the U.S. without six or seven of its presumed first-choice starting 11 for two friendlies and the Gold Cup. John Tolkin, a 22-year-old left back, is en route to the USMNT's Chicago training camp to replace him. A World Cup dress rehearsal becomes a USMNT tryout The Gold Cup, a biennial regional tournament, had been billed for months as a dress rehearsal, the last time the U.S. men's national team would be whole for competitive games before the 2026 World Cup. Advertisement Instead, it has become a tryout, with new faces fighting for a chance to stick with the USMNT over the next 13 months. And Pochettino has made it clear that the weight of your name, or the size of your club, doesn't matter. His message, defender Walker Zimmerman said this week, has been: "I don't care where you play, I care what you do. It's when you show up here, how you perform, and I'm going to evaluate you on that." A day later, goalkeeper Matt Turner confirmed that, per Pochettino, even club form has seemingly become secondary. "He's not gonna look at what you do elsewhere," Turner said from Chicago, where the USMNT has convened for a training camp. "He cares a lot about what you do while you're here. And there's a lot of guys here with a big opportunity ... to make a case for themselves to be on that World Cup squad, and be a contributing member to this team for years to come." Advertisement Those "guys with big opportunity" come from Major League Soccer and abroad, from Philly and Vancouver, from Utrecht and Eindhoven. There are half a dozen mainstays who are part of Pochettino's squad — Turner, Tyler Adams, Chris Richards, Tim Ream and few others. But most are fringe players who, a year ago, were on the outside looking in, sometimes from afar, at the U.S. roster. They're fullbacks Max Arfsten and Alex Freeman, midfielders Sebastian Berhalter and Jack McGlynn, attackers Quinn Sullivan and Damion Downs. Seven of the 26 players selected have never appeared for the national team. There are also players such as Malik Tillman and Johnny Cardoso who broke into the USMNT under previous head coach Gregg Berhalter, and have since excelled at their clubs, but haven't yet established themselves in the national team's starting lineup or rotation. And then, of course, there is Diego Luna, the prime example so far of a player who seized opportunity — first in January, then in March — and parlayed it into a place in Pochettino's plans. "That experience, for me, was life-changing," Luna said of his broken-nose stardom in January. "I think it added an opportunity for me to come back into more camps and show the type of grit and the hunger that I have to play and represent for my country." Advertisement This summer, which begins with friendlies against Turkey (Saturday, June 7, 3:30 p.m. ET, TNT) and Switzerland (Tuesday, June 10, 8 p.m. ET, TNT), then continues with the Gold Cup, is a chance for most or all of the 26 players on Pochettino's roster to follow Luna's path. The full roster is below. And remarkably, with the World Cup roughly a year away, it feels more unsettled than it did at this time last spring, two years out. More spots in the 2026 squad feel up for grabs than ever before. USMNT roster for 2025 Gold Cup, June friendlies Goalkeepers: Chris Brady (Chicago Fire), Matt Freese (New York City FC), Matt Turner (Crystal Palace) Advertisement Defenders: Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew), Alex Freeman (Orlando City), Nathan Harriel (Philadelphia Union), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse/FRA), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati), John Tolkin (Holstein Kiel), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC) Midfielders: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United); Tyler Adams (Bournemouth), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps), Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis), Luca de la Torre (San Diego FC), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake), Jack McGlynn (Houston Dynamo), Quinn Sullivan (Philadelphia Union); Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven) Forwards: Paxten Aaronson (FC Utrecht), Patrick Agyemang (Charlotte FC), Damion Downs (FC Köln), Brian White (Vancouver Whitecaps), Haji Wright (Coventry City)
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
‘Triple Espresso' led the USWNT to Olympic gold. Now, they must move forward
Alyssa Thompson and Ally Sentnor are among the younger candidates to fill key roles with the key attacking trio out. Photograph: Brad Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF The first time we saw the free-flowing force of Mallory Swanson, Sophia Wilson (née Smith) and Trinity Rodman starting together was 1 June 2024 – Emma Hayes' first match in charge of the national team, with little more than a month to go before the Olympics. Their mutual arrival to the US frontline was delayed by injuries and other uncertainties, but they emerged just in time for a blistering gold medal run. The self-styled 'Triple Espresso' trio combined for 10 of the USA's 12 goals in Paris. They were dynamic. They were fun. They were each capable of match-saving heroics, sparks of individual radiance that propelled the team to the next round: Rodman's heroic quarter-final strike in the 105th minute against Japan; Wilson's goal 95 minutes into a grueling semi final against Germany; then Swanson with the decisive gold medal goal against Brazil. Advertisement That was the last time we'd see them together for quite some time. Related: NWSL standouts LaBonta, Abello named to USWNT roster for friendlies On 5 March (one week after the US lost to Japan in the SheBelieves Cup final), Wilson announced she was expecting her first child. On 8 May, Swanson shared news of her first pregnancy as well. Rodman dealt with back issues, making her first appearance for the US since the Olympics in April (she took just five minutes to score). The winger has since has stepped away, focusing on rehabbing her chronic back pain. Given their youth and unique talents (Rodman, Wilson and Swanson will be just 25, 26 and 29, respectively, at the next World Cup) it seems improbable they won't eventually return as a trio. But the adage Steinbeck made famous from a Robert Burns poem certainly rings true in soccer: the best laid plans of sports and its stars oft times go awry. Advertisement Right now, Hayes is focused on building the team she'll need to make a trophy-contending run at the 2027 World Cup. We're two years out, wading through the 'build depth' and 'experiment' phase, but Hayes can't wait too long to prepare the team she'll need to contend with the world's elite on the most competitive international stage in soccer. Nor can she hang her managerial hat on the expectation that Triple Espresso will be available and healthy when Brazil 2027 arrives. Last week, Hayes named the 24-player training camp roster that will face Fifa's No 17-ranked China this Saturday, and No 40 Jamaica next Tuesday. The squad includes an interesting array of goal threats aspiring to stick around while Triple Espresso is unavailable. In this way, the trio's absence can be seen as a good thing. It forces a talented player pool to identify and perfect replicable goalscoring moments, while whittling down a wider range of players who can provide those goals. It also provides a young, emerging generation of players the opportunity to accrue valuable minutes against top competition, and potentially claim a lasting role. Nobody has taken firmer hold of that opportunity than Alyssa Thompson. After missing the '24 Olympic team, the 20-year-old winger played her way back into the national team picture with a series of statement performances with Angel City in the NWSL. She's kept up the pace in 2025, scoring five goals with two assists in nine matches for ACFC, averaging 0.8 goal contributions per 90, the highest such mark any NWSL player in camp. Advertisement Alyssa's 19-year-old sister Gisele joins her this window, and though she plays fullback for Angel City (and was placed there in previous call ups) the younger Thompson sister that loves to get forward is listed as one on this roster. Given Gisele's ability to contribute in the attack (the right back has three assists and one goal in 10 appearances for Angel City, with the highest assists per 90 of any NWSL player present) it seems Hayes' penchant for helping to mold young players could be in effect with the younger Thompson. Of the seven forwards on this US roster, four are aged 22 or younger. The Thompson sisters are joined by 22-year-old Michelle Cooper, who returns to camp with two goals and one assist in five games for first-place Kansas City, and 21-year-old Utah Royals midfielder/forward Ally Sentnor. Cooper and Sentnor both collected their first USWNT goals in the SheBelieves Cup. 24-year-old Emma Sears also returns to the roster with five goals in ten games for Racing Louisville, one among many examples that club output matters a lot for Hayes in this era. Trusted veterans like 32-year-old Lynn Biyendolo are also present, bringing the intrepid experience of 78 appearances and 22 goals for the USWNT with her, alongside 25-year-old Cat Macario, who was coached by Hayes at Chelsea, where she scored 11 goals across all competitions this year. It seems likely Hayes will deploy those one of those two more experienced forwards as strikers atop her preferred 4-2-3-1, with some degree of rotation among the wingers around them while she experiments. Advertisement Related: 'July BBQ written all over it': Do US Soccer's new kits hit the mark? Of course, replicating the output of Triple Espresso will be a team effort. In midfield, Kansas City veteran Lo'eau LaBonta has earned her first USWNT callup at the age of 32, where she is joined by three teenagers (Claire Hutton, Lily Yohannes, and Olivia Moultrie) and gold medalists Sam Coffey and Lindsey Heaps. A mix of athleticism and ball skills pervades that midfield group, where perhaps even bigger questions linger than among the Espresso-less forward formation. With multiple outside backs present that like to play an attacking role (including veterans like Emily Fox or Crystal Dunn, as well as first time callup Kerry Abello and Houston Dash defender Avery Patterson, who has two goals for the Dash this season), we can expect them to play a part in what looks like an aggressive attack that may need to unlock compact defenses. By no means are any of these players secure in their spots. Hayes has emphasized the importance of club form; that seems evident in this camp. Olympians Korbin Albert and Jaedyn Shaw, as well as Mia Fishel (who recently returned from ACL injury) have all been semt to the concurrent U23 camp, but are each notable talents that can return to the senior squad. Other players in the U23 camp, like NWSL rookie standout Riley Tiernan – who is tied with her teammate Alyssa Thompson for seven goal contributions, the second-most in NWSL – have plenty of time to work their way in through the league or youth national team performances. Advertisement Hayes noted in her roster drop that, 'As has been one of our focuses this year, this camp and the following camp are going to be two amazing opportunities to develop squad depth.' There's nothing quite like Triple Espresso. But the coming week of tests promises continuation of the year's theme: experimentation, rotation, and essential experience for a broader player pool that will help form the foundation of any trophy-contending team.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
With big names absent, USMNT hopes big personalities will fill the gap
Mauricio Pochettino will be without Christian Pulisic and a host of others for this summer's Gold Cup. Photograph: Shaun Clark/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF If the 2022 World Cup was the debutante ball for a shiny new generation of United States men's national team players, the 2025 Gold Cup was supposed to be a general rehearsal for the big dance, next summer's World Cup. Instead, still-somewhat-newish US manager Mauricio Pochettino will go into this summer tournament for the continental title shorn of a great many of his leading players. As such, his first and only chance to work with his team for an extended period of time before the start of the 2026 World Cup will present all kinds of challenges. Advertisement Pochettino is, in effect, playing a game of chess without several of his key pieces. He will just have to imagine how they fit into the larger strategy later on. Related: Pochettino names predecessor's son in USMNT squad as Pulisic steps back Star Milan forward and captain Christian Pulisic asked to sit out in order to take his first extended rest since the summer of 2023. If Pulisic plays 48 more minutes in Milan's Serie A season finale against Monza on Saturday, he will have surpassed his career high in club minutes of 3,589, which he set only last season. Fulham fullback Antonee Robinson, likewise, will sit out the summer after dragging his battered body through the last few months of the Premier League season, mostly skipping practices and saving himself for the games. Robinson has already posted his fourth straight season of at least 3,000 minutes. Advertisement 'I think it is the best decision in that case to give a rest,' Pochettino said in a press conference on Thursday. 'When you assess all the circumstances, not only for Christian but for different players, [it is] the best decision thinking for the principal objective, which is the World Cup.' Also absent from the 27-man preliminary Gold Cup roster are four regulars involved in the Club World Cup, to be held here in the United States, and which supersedes national team duty during a time of year typically reserved for international soccer. Juventus players Weston McKennie and Tim Weah and Borussia Dortmund's Gio Reyna will be with their clubs, rather than their nation. Club América winger Alex Zendejas, who was long overdue for a look under Pochettino on account of his strong form in Liga MX, will instead be tied up by a Club World Cup play-in game against LAFC for the final berth at the tournament. These difficulties in roster construction are something of a parable for the overscheduling and overuse of the modern player, forcing the national team head coach to consider how his decisions this summer will contribute to his players' fitness a year from now. Related: 'July BBQ written all over it': Do US Soccer's new kits hit the mark? Advertisement 'The demands today are so high, the level that they need to perform and the demand in all the areas are affecting the physical condition and the mental,' said Pochettino. 'It's a big season, a long season, traveling, playing competing Wednesdays, Sundays. We need to consider 10, 11 months of competing.' But he insisted that there is opportunity in these absences for a team who has long had much of its starting lineup written in Sharpie, having settling into an ossified hierarchy after a promising pack of young players was anointed as a golden generation. 'It's true that it's possible to miss an opportunity to have all the players that maybe you have in your head thinking in one year,' Pochettino said. 'But at the same time, it's so exciting to see different players, young players, players that are going to make their debut in the national team – people that maybe can challenge different names that everyone considers are maybe going to the World Cup.' An influx of fresh players will hope to aid in the correction of the national team's recent course. The US looked dismal and uninterested in its March outing in the Concacaf Nations League, recording consecutive losses to Panama and Canada in a tournament they had previously won three straight times. 'We need to send a signal to our fans [about] the team that we want to be in the next year before the World Cup,' Pochettino said. Advertisement Just 13 players from the Nations League roster were recalled, with five uncapped players joining up instead. Pochettino has dropped several experienced players in striker Josh Sargeant, midfielder Tanner Tessman and defenders Cameron Carter-Vickers and Joe Scally. Midfielder Yunus Musah is away from the team dealing with a personal issue after a disappointing campaign with Milan. Related: The US men's national team aren't just underachievers; they're unlikeable | Beau Dure While much of that turnover was forced on him, Pochettino is also messaging a demand for more professionalism. 'What we want to create in our national team is people desperate to come but desperate to come to perform,' he said. 'We only have time to train one, two, three times; play; compete. One, two recoveries, and play. And then go home and maybe wait two months to be all together [again]. If you want to arrive to the camp, and you want to spend a nice time, play golf, go for a dinner, visit my family, visit my friends — and that is the culture we want to create? No, no, no, no, no. What we want to do is be focused and spend all my focus and energy on the national team. We need to create this culture about winning and to chase our aim. If we want to be good in one year's time, we need to think that today is the most important day.' Advertisement In the last World Cup cycle, the USMNT cultivated and celebrated an intense closeness. The team, it seemed, got along famously and it led to an admirable performance in Qatar. Now, Pochettino would like to see more intensity among positional rivals, a realization that every camp might be any player's last. With several jobs in the starting lineup vacant this summer, the US hopes to gain in mentality what it is losing in talent.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
US men to play South Korea, Japan in September friendlies with World Cup looming
The US will play two friendlies against East Asian opponents after this summer's Gold Cup. The US will play two friendlies against East Asian opponents after this summer's Gold Cup. Photograph: Shaun Clark/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF The US men's national team will kick off the final part of their journey to the 2026 World Cup with September friendlies against South Korea and Japan, the US Soccer Federation announced on Tuesday. The US will play South Korea on 6 September at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey, before traveling to Ohio to take on Japan at Field in Columbus on 9 September. Advertisement The friendlies come in the first of four international windows between this summer's Gold Cup and next year's main event – the 2026 World Cup co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico. Related: Nations League losses and sparse crowds have US momentum at low ebb The US previously played at Sports Illustrated Stadium, then known as Red Bull Arena, in the run-up to the 2014 World Cup, when Fabian Johnson and Clint Dempsey scored in a 2-1 win over Turkey. They also hosted Costa Rica in a World Cup qualifier there in 2018, losing 2-1 to Costa Rica in a result that contributed greatly to the infamous failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. The meeting with South Korea will be the eighth-ever between the sides, the most notable of which came in the 2002 World Cup group stage when Clint Mathis and Ahn Jung-hwan scored in a 1-1 draw in Daegu. Advertisement South Korea are currently in a good spot in World Cup qualifying, sitting in first place of their group in Round 3 of AFC qualifiers with a three-point lead over Jordan and a four-point lead over Iraq. With the top two sides earning automatic qualification to the 2026 tournament, South Korea are likely to book their tickets to North America in June's international window with games against Iraq and Kuwait. The team, coached by legendary defender and former LA Galaxy player Hong Myung-bo, also boast star power in the form of Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min. Related: An increasingly multicultural Japan have qualified for the 2026 World Cup Japan, meanwhile, have already assured their spot in next year's showpiece. In March, the Samurai Blue became the first non-host nation to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, and are riding a 12-match unbeaten run dating back to February 2024. Japan have reached the round of 16 in the last two World Cups and are currently ranked No 15 in the world. The US will host Japan at Field in Columbus, Ohio, home of MLS's Columbus Crew. It will be the third time the US men play at the venue, having hosted two World Cup qualifiers there on the road to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Forbes
10-04-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
For USWNT Coach Hayes, It's Not About Today, It's About Tomorrow
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 08: United States head coach Emma Hayes along the sidelines prior to ... More playing Brazil at PayPal Park on April 08, 2025 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Brad Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF) When she took over the reins of the U.S. Women's National Team, it was pretty obvious to head coach Emma Hayes that the squad was dominated by veteran players, some of which were getting long in the tooth for international soccer. She understood that the team needed to get younger, especially after the disaster that occurred at the 2023 Women's World Cup when the embarrassed Americans exited in the Round of 16. It was the four-time champion's poorest performance ever in the competition. In 2024, Hayes did a quick makeover of the team on the fly in only 10 matches, as the USA bounced back with a gold-medal winning performance at the Paris Summer Olympics. And she is far from finished as the Englishwoman has set her sights on winning the 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil. Which brings us to the USA's 2-1 extra time loss to Brazil in San Jose, Calif. on Tuesday night. "We mustn't always measure progress by outcome," Hayes said afterwards, noting that the squad that she deployed at PayPal Park was the youngest capped USWNT team (averaging 17.9 international matches) in 24 years. That's a generation ago. The experience the team gained was invaluable. The Brazilian women have never won a Women's World Cup or an Olympic gold medal, but that doesn't define the team. They boast some of the world's best players and have skills that many spectators marvel at. And oh yeah, Brazil earned the silver medal in Paris, losing to the USA. SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 08: Head coach Emma Hayes of the United States speaks during a ... More post-game press conference after their game against Brazil at PayPal Park on April 08, 2025 in San Jose, California. (Photo by) "What a great experience for them to go into a game in which you get to feel the pressure of playing a really, really difficult opponent," Hayes said. "If I only prioritize short term success, of course, I wouldn't make that many changes, but I'm not making decisions for the short term. I'm prioritizing the progress from expanding the playing pool to getting to see what these players look like in a really difficult match." And what better way to get thrown into the deep end of the pool against one of the world's best teams in an international friendly. Hayes gets it. It isn't about today, it is about tomorrow and the next big competition, the Women's World Cup. "We won't get the opportunity to play a team like Brazil till hopefully, we go to Brazil maybe next year," Hayes said. 'But I don't want to wait another year for me to get a look at these less experienced players against a top-level opponent. I'm glad I made that decision, even if you feel a little bit of short-term pain with it.' The USWNT head coach singled out four players who had a combined 11 international appearances after the encounter - defenders Gisele Thompson, age 19, (3 caps) and Avery Patterson, 22 (2) midfielder Claire Hutton, 19 (2) and forward Michelle Cooper, 22 (4). "I mean, what a game Claire Hutton had," Hayes said. "Avery Patterson, I thought those two players were superb. I thought Giselle Thompson battled. I thought Michelle Cooper showed glimpses. "I'm a lot clearer now and that's for me, an important step, because I wouldn't know that if I don't put Avery Patterson in this position. If I play her against, say, China or an Ireland, I think I learned what I might already know, whereas today I learned what I didn't know, and I was really happy with it." SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 08: Claire Hutton #16 of the United States battles for the ball with ... More Kerolin #10 of Brazil at PayPal Park on April 08, 2025 in San Jose, California. (Photo by John Todd/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF) For Hutton, who plays for the Kansas Current (National Women's Soccer League), it was the learning experience of a lifetime. "It's just one of those learning lessons where you need to stick it out till the end,' she said. 'That mental toughness, the physical toughness, the emotional toughness. All of it goes into that. It was the hardest game I've ever played in. Just knowing that I have this experience under me moving forward is going to keep me growing as a player.' As the game went on the U.S. fatigued. The South Americans enjoyed a 58-42 possession advantage. Hayes noted that her team dominated the first-half duels, forcing Brazil to make two substitutions. "But it's not a game 45 minutes long. It was a great first half. Wasn't good enough in the second half," she said. "For some of them, they probably never played a game like that before with that volume of dueling. I think that took a lot out of us. As I kept saying to the team, 'I want to put players in the frying pan, and I want you to feel the heat.' ' Said Hutton: "This is pressure cooker football, and we're here to feel the pressure. She's [Hayes] putting us in environments to feel that. The World Cup is in two years. I had one cap before. If we don't get these experiences, we won't be ready in two years." SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 8: Gabi Portilho #18 of Brazil battles for the ball with Avery ... More Patterson #13 of the United States during a game between USWNT and Brazil at PayPal Park on April 8, 2025 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Lyndsay Radnedge/) Some of those players might wind up playing for U.S. Under-23 national team to hone their skills, said Hayes, although she wouldn't say which ones. "They need to develop their game and prove themselves at that level first, before they make progress here," she said. "It is not the World Cup today. If it was, we'd be disappointed, but I didn't pick a team today for today." Hayes already knows what veterans such as the Triple Espresso - Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith and Mallory Swanson - can bring to the table, especially after what transpired in France last summer. But what if one or even two of them get injured? As everyone knows, no team can ever have enough depth. "If I solely prioritize keeping the same seven to 13 players together, yeah, I can do that, but I don't learn anything about particularly those senior players," Hayes said. "I'm a long-term player development coach. I've got a pretty good track record of producing winning teams. So, this is necessary for us to go through that. "It's important we support those players, because I don't want them to feel like they let anybody down, or it's a disappointment. Far from it. Look at the progress. Avery Patterson, Claire Hutton, Gisele Thompson, Michelle Cooper, Lily Yohannes. These are players whose names wouldn't be on everybody's lips, even three camps ago. Now, we're talking about these players, going to be competing to play in a World Cup. Well, if they are, well, we better get them ready, and we can't do that by just playing them in the World Cup, I can assure you." The next time Hayes will have an opportunity to bring these players and the team together will be against China on May 31 and June 3. Hayes will have some time to figure out which players she will deploy for those two games. She was optimistic about the future. "I genuinely think in this camp, we've seen so many good things to know we're heading in the right direction," she said. "Just the result sucks, and it's okay to feel that, but we will get better in the end."
