Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Pulisic anchors U.S. team for game in Chester; Steffen left off squad
It’s no surprise that Christian Pulisic is the biggest name to be included on the United States Men’s National Team roster for training camp in Philadelphia ahead of a Memorial Day encounter with Bolivia at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester.
It was perhaps surprising that when the 22man squad dropped Sunday that the 19-yearold Pulisic was the most capped player included in Dave Sarachan’s lineup.
The interim manager has continued his quest of vetting young players, drawing an overwhelmingly European-based group that features only four players with more than eight caps, with Pulisic and midfielder Joe Corona leading the way at 20 caps each.
“As I’ve talked about throughout this process, the theme is to offer opportunity to this younger generation of talented players that have potential down the road with the program,” Sarachan said in press release. “We’ve had first-time call-ups in every camp since November, and this is another extension of that. We’re going into the Bolivia game with newer faces along with a few familiar players as well. Overall, these types of games provide great chances for players to bank key minutes in international matches.”
Downingtown West graduate and former All-Area Player of the Year Zack Steffen, who played for the United States in the last international window, was not named to the squad for the match.
The team will train at the University of Pennsylvania this week ahead of next Monday’s game. Pulisic will be a late arrival to the group, playing with German club Borussia Dortmund in a friendly against Los Angeles FC at their new Banc of California Stadium Tuesday night before the Hershey native returns to his home state. It will be Pulisic’s first appearance for the national team since the loss in Trinidad in October of last year, sealing the national team’s failure to qualify for the World Cup finals in Russia next month.
Outside backs Jorge Villafana (16 caps) and Eric Lichaj are the other veterans; the other 18 players on the roster have a grand total of 51 caps. Villafana and Lichaj are also the only two players born before 1990 to get calls. Julian Green, a 2014 World Cup selection, is back in the fold for the first time since Nov. 2016 and is the only rostered play to have played in a World Cup. Fifteen players in camp are aged 22 or younger, and nine will be eligible by age for the 2020 Olympic squad, which will consist of Under-23 players.
Seven players are in line for their first caps: goalie Alex Bono; defenders Erik Palmer-Brown, Matthew Olosunde and Antonee Robinson; midfielders Alejandro Guido and Keaton Parks and forward Josh Sargent. Olosunde, Guido and Parks are getting their first senior national team camp calls. Only Parks has never played for the U.S. at any level.
Twenty of the players ply their trades overseas. The only two MLS picks are Toronto goalie Bono and LAFC center back Walker Zimmerman. A surprising omission is Downingtown native Zack Steffen, the Columbus Crew starter viewed by many as the heir apparent to the starting goalkeeper’s job.
England leads the way with eight players, the roster representing five of the top eight clubs in the English Premier League (though several players, like Manchester City’s Palmer-Brown, Everton’s Robinson and Chelsea’s Matt Miazga went on loan last year).
Sarachan is expected to switch as many as 10 players for the European dates on the tour, friendlies against Ireland June 2 and France June 9.