The men’s national team squad released on Wednesday includes two new players for next month’s friendlies, with dual national Kristoffer Lund joining the squad and Ben Karimachi earning his first call-up. Here’s what you need to know:
- Left-back Lund, 21, makes the one-time switch having previously represented Denmark at youth international level.
- Crimachi, 18, heads to the first team after playing for the youth national teams in the United States and Argentina. He has recently entered the spotlight playing alongside Lionel Messi at Inter Miami.
- The USMNT will play two friendlies in September, starting with a match against Uzbekistan on September 9 at CITYPARK in St. Louis.
- The games will be the first for coach Gregg Berhalter since he was rehired in June.
Complete USMNT roster
Goalkeepers (3): Drake Callender (Inter Miami), Ethan Horvath (Nottingham Forest), Matt Turner (Nottingham Forest).
Defenders (9): Serginio Dest (PSV), Christopher Lund (Palermo), Mark McKenzie (Genk), Kevin Paredes (Wolfsburg), Tim Ream (Fulham), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Antonie Robinson (Fulham), Miles Robinson (Atlanta United). – Joe Scully (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
Midfielders (6): Johnny Cardoso (Internacional), Ben Cremachi (Inter Miami), Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Younes Moussa (Milan), Malik Tieleman (PSV Eindhoven).
Strikers (6): Brenden Aaronson (Union Berlin), Folarin Balogun (Arsenal), Cade Coyle (San Jose Earthquakes), Ricardo Pepe (PSV Eindhoven), Christian Pulisic (Milan), Tim Weah (Juventus).
Players who missed due to injury or fitness:
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Adams and Reyna are out with injuries
Two key members of the US team are still absent due to long absences and will miss Berhalter’s first camp as manager: Tyler Adams and Gio Rina. Adams has been out since March after undergoing hamstring surgery and is not included in this squad. His absence continues to open up opportunities to see depth in central midfield, and Johnny Cardoso and Cremachi will both get a chance to show their value to Berhalter. It’s an especially big chance for Karimachi, who also qualifies for Argentina and could fight for a spot on the US Olympic roster.
Reina’s absence extends the wait for Berhalter and the star winger to return to the national team for the first time since the fallout and scandal of the World Cup. Reina has been sidelined since June 18 after sustaining an injury in the CONCACAF Nations League final, and returned to full training with Borussia Dortmund this week.
Berhalter told Vanity Fair this week that he hasn’t yet spoken to Reina since the 20-year-old’s parents, former national team players Claudio and Daniel Reina, told US Soccer Federation leadership about an incident involving Berhalter and his then-girlfriend, now-wife Rosalind, before 30 years old when they were freshmen at the University of North Carolina. The investigation into the incident, which included Berhalter pushing Rosalind down and kicking her twice, ultimately concluded that Greg Berhalter had not had any more accidents over the past three decades and absolved the USSF of any legal liability if they rehired him. Greg and Rosalind Berhalter have been married for 25 years and have four children.
Berhalter said he would contact Reina before the player returns to the national team.
“It’s not something where you just pick up the phone and say, ‘Hey, buddy, here’s how it goes,'” Berhalter told Vanity Fair. “There is work to be done.”
Several other players were unavailable due to injury or fitness, including Taylor Booth, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Sean Johnson, Josh Sargent, Zack Stephen, and Walker Zimmerman. — Tenorio
What to watch for in the upcoming friendlies
After several months under different interim coaches Anthony Hudson and PJ Callahan, the USA will return under Berhalter, who led the team to the 2022 World Cup finals and guided them through the group stage before losing in the knockout round to Japan. Holland.
This will be Berhalter’s first chance to work with striker Folarin Balogun, who joined the USA from England and Nigeria earlier this year, and his first chance to start building on the team’s progress from the previous tournament.
In this list, eight different players have changed clubs since Berhalter last worked for the team: Brenden Aronson (Union Berlin), Serginho Dest (PSV Eindhoven), Younes Musa (AC Milan), Riccardo Pepe (PSV Eindhoven), Christian Pulisic (AC). Milan), Malik Tillman (PSV), Matt Turner (Nottingham Forest), Tim Weah (Juventus). Lund also recently changed clubs and joined Palermo.
Interestingly, the list also includes six sets of teammates, five of whom come from European clubs: PSV (Dest, Pepe, Tillman), AC Milan (Moses, Pulisic), Fulham (Reims, A. Robinson), Inter Miami (Callender, Karimachi), Juventus (McKennie, Weah) and Nottingham Forest (Horvath, Turner). — Tenorio
Friendly matches schedule for September
- September 9: USMNT vs. Uzbekistan at City Park in St. Louis, 5:30 PM ET
- September 12: USMNT vs. Oman at Allianz Field in St. Paul, 8:30 p.m. ET
Dramatic story
Cremaschi has international eligibility for both the United States and Argentina. The midfielder appeared in the Slovenian Nations Cup for the United States U-19 national team in September 2022 and scored two goals in the competition. He then joined the US U-20 training camp ahead of the 2023 U-20 World Cup but was not selected for the final roster.
The Argentina U-20 national team called him up months later for a training camp ahead of the 2023 South American U-20 Championship, and once again, he was not named to the final list.
Many wondered if Karimachi would choose the American Federation or Argentina, given that he plays alongside Argentine star Messi in the American League.
Lund has played for Denmark’s U-21 and U-20 national teams. In 2022, he won the Swedish league title with BK Hacken.
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(Photo: Kirby Lee/USA Today)
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