23 of the 24 players selected are active in European clubs. The only exception is Johnny Cardoso, a nineteen-year-old midfielder who plays for Brazilian club Internacional.
Team USA will face Wales (November 12 in Swansea) and Panama (November 16 in Wiener Neustadt, Austria) in the upcoming international period. It will be the second and only international match for the United States this year, after the 1-0 victory over Costa Rica on February 1. Heerenveen striker Ulysses Lenez (19, hired this season from Wolfsburg) then scored the only goal from the penalty spot in his debut for the national team. Llanez played just 38 minutes in the main strength of the Frisian club this season, but Berhalter called him up.
Sergio Dist, who is 20 today, is also present, as is his Barcelona teammate Conrad de la Fuente. Chelsea striker Christian Pulisic (22), Juventus midfielder Weston McKinney (22) and Lille striker Timothy and Ya (22) are household names in the team.
There are at least ten junior players in the United States’ 24-player selection. For example, Telstar striker Sebastian Soto (20, hired from Norwich City) and PSV Eindhoven midfielder Richard Ledisma (20) was called up for the first time by national coach Berhalter, who also played for the Netherlands. Between 1994 and 2000 he was a defender of PEC Zwolle, Sparta and Cambuur.
Berhalter even lends itself to two 17-year-olds talents in his selection. It’s about Borussia Dortmund playmaker Giovanni Reina, whose father Claudio played 112 matches for the United States national team between 1994 and 2008 and was present in four World Cups. He named his son, born in 2002, after his former Rangers teammate Giovanni van Bronckhurst.
And Younes Moussa, 17, scored his first goal for Valencia last Sunday. Moses was born in New York, but moved to Italy with his Ghanaian parents in his first year of life. Moussa continued to play at Arsenal’s youth academy from 12 to 16 years old. So Moussa had to choose four countries, but the United States is now first. In the upcoming international period, international friendlies will still be, so Moussa was not yet “stuck” with the United States when he made his debut.
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