Coach Jurgen Klinsmann just released the list of 23 men that he selected for the next CONCACAF Gold Cup that starts in July. Their first match will be
Coach Jurgen Klinsmann just released the list of 23 men that he selected for the next CONCACAF Gold Cup that starts in July. Their first match will be against Honduras on July 7th in Frisco, Texas. The U.S. coach’s ultimate goal with this tournament is to win it in order to automatically qualify for the 2017 Confederations Cup.
Californian players Miguel Ibarra, Michael Orozco and Bobby Wood that were previously in the U.S. roster, have not been selected for the Gold Cup. Ibarra and Orozco are out mostly because of they didn’t get playing time for the last couple of international friendlies, and also the Liga MX – Apertura is about to start. As far as Bobby Wood, coach Klinsmann already mentioned that he wants to give Wood a rest so he can excel at his club first.
Now with the new roster, the only Californians on the squad are goalkeeper Nick Rimando, midfielder Gyasi Zardes, and forward Chris Wondolowski.
Some of the new additions are the Mexican-American Omar Gonzales who plays for LA Galaxy, Tim Ream from Saint Louis who plays for the English club Bolton Wanderers, Alejandro Bedoya of Colombian descent plays for Nantes in France, Brad Davis from Missouri plays for the Houston Dynamo, Graham Zusi from Florida plays for Sporting Kansas City, Jozy Altidore from Florida plays for Toronto FC, Clint Dempsey from Texas plays for Seattle Sounders FC, and the only new Californian is the striker Chris Wondolowski who went to college at Chico State University and now plays for San Jose Earthquakes.
Klinsmann had to leave out some very talented players in order to reach this final roster. During the last couple of games, the U.S. played incredibly well with some of the younger players, but the U.S. coach is bringing many of the veterans back again for the upcoming tournament in hopes that their experience will help the overall performance of the team (17 players on this roster also played the 2014 World Cup).
Coach Klinsmann
[quote_box_center]“Our approach for putting together the roster for this summer’s Gold Cup, which is very, very important to us, is obviously to do everything possible to win this competition,” said Klinsmann. “Winning it would qualify us for the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia, so putting the pieces together is very crucial. That’s why we came out with a roster full of quality, but also a lot of experience; players that are used to playing in the CONCACAF region and also younger players that came through the ranks over the last year that made a stamp on the senior National Team program. It’s an exciting roster, and obviously we have a chance to make some changes after the group stage if necessary. We put all of these things into consideration, and we believe we have a very, very strong group that can win this prestigious tournament.”[/quote_box_center]
Here is the official roster:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa/2007), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake/2011, 2013), William Yarbrough (Club Leon)
DEFENDERS (7): Ventura Alvarado (Club America), John Brooks (Hertha Berlin), Timmy Chandler (Eintracht Frankfurt), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders FC/2009), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy/2013), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Tim Ream (Bolton Wanderers/2011)
MIDFIELDERS (9): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake/2009, 2013), Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes/2011, 2013), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC/2007, 2011), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo/2005), Mix Diskerud (New York City FC/2013), Alfredo Morales (Ingolstadt), DeAndre Yedlin (Tottenham Hotspur), Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
FORWARDS (4): Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC/2011), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC/2005, 2007, 2011), Aron Johannsson (AZ Alkmaar), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes/2011, 2013)
