Newly eligible Saief, Dwyer picked by U.S. for the Gold Cup

CHICAGO » Kansas City forward Dom Dwyer and midfielders Kenny Saief of Gent, Cristian Roldan of Seattle and Kelyn Rowe of New England have been picked for the U.S. roster for the CONCACAF Gold Cup and could make national team debuts next month.

Defenders Matt Miazga of Chelsea and Eric Lichaj of Nottingham Forest also were among the 23 players selected Sunday by U.S. coach Bruce Arena.

Sixteen players come from Major League Soccer and four from Mexican clubs: Defenders Omar Gonzalez (Pachuca) and Jorge Villafana (Santos Laguna), and midfielders of Paul Arriola and Joe Corona of Tijuana.

Thirteen players have eight or fewer international appearances.

“They have an opportunity to make a statement,” Arena said. “We have a large number of domestic players because our European-based players need a break. They had long seasons plus the June World Cup qualifiers, so they needed a break and then they need to start their preseasons in July.”

Saief played for Israel’s Under-19 and Under-21 teams, and his approval to switch to the U.S. was approved by FIFA in the past week. Dwyer, born in England, became a U.S. citizen in March.

The U.S. opens camp Monday in Nashville, Tennessee, and has an exhibition against Ghana. The Americans’ group stage includes matches against Panama July 8 at Nashville; Martinique July 12 at Tampa, Florida; and Nicaragua July 15 at Cleveland.

Teams advancing to the knockout stage can change six players, but the pool is limited to those on the 40-man roster.