Bruce Arena has officially released the USMNT Roster for the Gold Cup, which is a lot less name worthy, then your typical US men’s national team of year’s past, with certain players given rest, Tim Howard, Christian Pulisic, and Jozy Altidore.
At first glance, it’s crazy to not have these top name players on the roster since the US has been skidding before the arrival of Arena and they would rather DOMINATE the Gold Cup, then just getting by it. The USMNT Gold Cup Roster is outlined below:
Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan, Bill Hamid, Sean Johnson
Defenders: Matt Besler, Omar Gonzalez, Matt Hedges, Eric Lichaj, Matt Miazga, Justin Morrow, Jorge Villafaña, Graham Zusi
Midfielders: Kellyn Acosta, Paul Arriola, Alejandro Bedoya, Joe Corona, Dax McCarty, Cristian Roldan, Kelyn Rowe, Kenny Saief, Gyasi Zardes
Forwards: Juan Agudelo, Dom Dwyer, Jordan Morris
With the new face of Dom Dwyer coming in to help with the attacking front and Brad Guzan making his final push to be the starter for the USMNT World Cup. This is an exciting for MLS fans, as this 23-man roster contains 16 MLS players.
Being true to your American soccer clubs is a great thing for the USMNT and MLS. In addition, such a heavy MLS-homegrown side could help foster future development of the sport of soccer in the united States for years to come. After years of being on the proverbial soccer/footy fringe, and not having a feeder league of its own to draw talent from, USMNT finally has one in the form of MLS. Thanks to a manager in Arena, both MLS and USMNT will only stand to benefit and reap the rewards.
The first matchup for the USMNT is against Panama on 07/08, Martinique on 07/12, and Nicaragua on 7/15. The USMNT needs to dominate the group stage to advance to the next round and attempt to win their sixth Gold Cup championship.