Daryl Dike was selected to the USMNT’s Gold Cup squad. (Photo courtesy of Orlando City SC)
CHICAGO – U.S. men’s national team head coach Gregg Berhalter selected the final 23-player roster, U.S. Soccer announced Thursday.
With a mix of veterans and young talent, the United States will pursue its seventh confederation championship title.
“Our priority is to win the Gold Cup. Anytime we’re competing for a trophy, we want to win it,” Berhalter said in a statement. “It’s going to take a good effort by the group, but it’s certainly a focus of ours. We know the games are going to be difficult, and as we looked at the roster for this tournament, we focused on guys who are in form and can help the team win.”
The USMNT is part of Group B in the Gold Cup along with Canada, Martinique and a team that will be determined through the 2021 Gold Cup Prelims. The USA will play all of its group matches at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City.
Based on the outcome of the Gold Cup Prelims Round, the remaining team in Group B could be one of four possibilities: Barbados, Bermuda, Haiti or St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The Prelims Round will run from July 2-6 at in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
The United States has lifted the Concacaf Gold Cup six times, most recently in the 2017 edition. The USMNT won the inaugural tournament in 1991 before being crowned regional champions again in 2002, 2005, 2007 and 2013.
“When we were looking at both the Gold Cup and the Nations League, we were thinking about one big roster picture, not two separate rosters. The idea was to prepare our entire player pool in a competitive CONCACAF format for World Cup Qualifying,” Berhalter said in a statement. “When you look at this roster, it’s basically another group of players that are going to get the opportunity to compete to win a trophy. By the end of this tournament, we’re going to have virtually the entire player pool prepared for World Cup qualifying.”
Per tournament rules, the final roster will be submitted prior to midnight Thursday night. A player may be replaced on the roster up to 24 hours prior a team’s first match of the group phase in the case of injury. The replacement player must come from the 60-man preliminary roster.
The roster
GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Atlanta United; 64/0), Sean Johnson (New York City FC; 9/0), Matt Turner (New England Revolution; 1/0)
DEFENDERS (8): George Bello (Atlanta United; 1/0), Reggie Cannon (Boavista/POR; 18/1), Shaq Moore (Tenerife/ESP; 5/0), Donovan Pines (D.C. United; 0/0), Miles Robinson (Atlanta United; 3/1), James Sands (New York City FC; 0/0), Sam Vines (Colorado Rapids; 3/0), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC; 14/2)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Kellyn Acosta (Colorado Rapids; 31/2), Gianluca Busio (Sporting Kansas City; 0/0), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy; 24/7), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders; 20/0), Eryk Williamson (Portland Timbers; 0/0), Jackson Yueill (San Jose Earthquakes; 12/0)
FORWARDS: (6): Paul Arriola (D.C. United; 35/8), Daryl Dike (Orlando City; 3/1), Nicholas Gioacchini (Caen/FRA; 3/2), Matthew Hoppe (Schalke/GER; 0/0), Jonathan Lewis (Colorado Rapids; 7/2), Gyasi Zardes (Columbus Crew; 56/12)
