CHICAGO – The U.S. men’s national team will close out the year against regional foe El Salvador at Inter Miami CF Stadium in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
The game will be shown ESPN News, UniMás and TUDN.
After the global COVID-19 pandemic put international soccer on pause for much of 2020, the match will mark the third for the USMNT in less than a month.
Falling outside of a FIFA fixture date, 20 of the 22 eligible players come from Major League Soccer clubs, comprising a mix of established USMNT veterans along with players eligible to represent the United States in the Concacaf Men’s Olympic Qualifying Championship slated for March.
Head coach Gregg Berhalter’s youthful roster features 10 players who could make their USMNT debut, while 15 are age-eligible for the Tokyo Olympics next summer.
Due to the current conditions related to the pandemic, the match will be conducted under U.S. Soccer’s Return to Play Protocols, with a stadium capacity limited to 2,500 fans.
The game will be special to forward Paul Arriola began the year by logging 90 minutes in the 1-0 friendly win against Costa Rica Feb. 1 in Carson, Calif. His year was turned upside down weeks later when he suffered a torn right ACL in a preseason match with D.C. United. Facing a lengthy recovery, Arriola worked his way back to the field and when he heard there was potential for a USMNT camp in December, made it a goal to be part of the roster .
Arriola took the first step when he made a substitute appearance in United’s regular season finale against the Montreal Impact Nov. 8. He was named to the USMNT roster a week ago. With 33 caps, he is the most experienced player on the current squad.
With an almost entirely domestic-based roster this month, team called in some of the very best that MLS has to offer. On the back line, recently crowned defender of the year Walker Zimmerman, his 21-year-old Best XI counterpart Mark McKenzie, 2018 defender of the year Aaron Long and rock-solid rookie Mauricio Pineda make up the central defender corps.
Throw in the team’s European-based contingent including John Brooks, Matt Miazga and Bayern Munich defender Chris Richards, the competition at center back should be one of the most intriguing during the USMNT’s 2022 World Cup cycle.
Berhalter has not been shy about giving players a chance. Through his first 21 matches as head coach, he has overseen the debuts of 29 players, more than any other USMNT manager in the same amount of time. Nine players earned their first caps during the two matches in Europe last month, and with 10 eligible uncapped players on the roster, it won’t be surprising to see multiple players earn their debuts against El Salvador on Tuesday.
Check out the number of debuts which occurred under each modern era USMNT head coach through their first 21 games and read up on the new players in camp who could add to Berhalter’s total.
U.S. roster (club; caps/goals)
GOALKEEPERS (3) : CJ Dos Santos (Benfica/POR; 0/0), Bill Hamid (D.C. United; 7/0), JT Marcinkowski (San Jose Earthquakes; 0/0)
DEFENDERS (8) : Julian Araujo (LA Galaxy; 0/0), Kyle Duncan (New York Red Bulls; 0/0), Marco Farfan (Portland Timbers; 0/0), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls; 17/3), Mark McKenzie (Philadelphia Union; 1/0), Mauricio Pineda (Chicago Fire; 0/0), Sam Vines (Colorado Rapids; 1/0), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC; 12/2)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Brenden Aaronson (Philadelphia Union; 1/0), Kellyn Acosta (Colorado Rapids; 23/2), Cole Bassett (Colorado Rapids; 0/0), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy; 16/3), Andrés Perea* (Orlando City SC; 0/0), Jackson Yueill (San Jose Earthquakes; 7/0)
FORWARDS (7) : Ayo Akinola (Toronto FC/CAN; 0/0), Efrain Alvarez* (LA Galaxy; 0/0), Paul Arriola (D.C. United; 33/5), Daryl Dike (Orlando City SC; 0/0), Djordje Mihailovic (Chicago Fire; 5/1), Chris Mueller (Orlando City SC; 0/0), Sebastian Soto (Telstar/NED; 1/2)
