Pulisic returns, Scally called up for Cup qualifier
Christian Pulisic is back on the roster for the United States’ World Cup qualifier against Mexico next week after recovering from a sprained ankle, and defender Sergino Dest will miss the match because of a back injury.
Joe Scally, an 18-year-old defender who has become a starter for Borussia Monchengladbach this season, was the lone first-time callup on the 25-man roster for qualifiers against Mexico on Nov. 12 at Cincinnati and at Jamaica four days later. Defenders Sam Vines and Reggie Cannon were added along with forward Jesus Ferreira.
Gio Reyna remains sidelined, while John Brooks and Tim Ream were bypassed.
“It’s always a combination of what they’ve done in the past for us and what they’ve been doing with their teams,” U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter said Thursday. “It’s not an exact science.”
The U.S. has 11 points, three behind Mexico, after six of 14 games. The top three of eight teams qualify from North and Central America and the Caribbean, and No. 4 advances to a playoff.
Berhalter has used 33 players — five more than in the 10 matches of the 2018 hexagonal — giving starts to 29. Unlike the September and October windows that had three matches in seven days, there are two games in five days.
“It should be reasonable that if we’re happy with the performance of players in the first game, that they can continue on and play the second game,” Berhalter said.
Pulisic injured his left ankle during the 4-1 win at Honduras on Sept. 8 and returned only Tuesday for the final 17 minutes of Chelsea’s Champions League match at Malmo.
“It’s luxury to be able to bring a guy like Christian into camp,” Berhalter said. “Even knowing he’s not 90 minutes fit, to have him be able to make an impact in whichever we chose is going to be helpful.”
Dest has lower back pain, Barcelona said Thursday.
Reyna remains sidelined by a right hamstring injury sustained Sept. 2 at El Salvador, and forward Gyasi Zardes is out after spraining his left knee with Columbus against Nashville on Oct. 20.
Players will average 23 years, 363 days when training starts Monday.
Scally, an 18-year-old defender from Lake Grove, New York, has started all 10 Bundesliga matches this season for Borussia Monchengladbach. He was the lone firsttime callup on the 25-man roster.
Scally played in five Bundesliga games since he was overlooked last month, including a 5-0 win over Bayern Munich. Berhalter praised Scally’s play against Leroy Sane and Alphonso Davies.
“He’s being tested and he standed up to those tests,” Berhalter said. “We wanted to see him before consistently at a high level, and he’s done that.”
Defenders Sam Vines of Antwerp and Reggie Cannon of Boavista were picked for the first time since the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Vines returned on Oct. 21 from a broken collarbone that had sidelined him since August and Cannon returned on Oct. 30 from an ankle injury that had sidelined him since the Gold Cup final.
Usually reticent to announce lineup selections in advance, Berhalter envisioned forward Ricardo Pepi “will play a large portion of these two games” and said midfielder Gianluca Busio “will definitely be pushing for a starting position” after gaining a regular role at Venezia following a transfer from Kansas City.
“He’s handled it better than just about anyone I’ve seen,” Berhalter said.
Midfielders Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie carry yellow cards along with right
back DeAndre Yedlin, causing Berhalter to pick backups in case of suspension.
Brooks was bypassed but Berhalter expects to pick him at some point.
“A lot of it was based on how we felt his performance was with the team the last time,” Berhalter said. “He’s working his way back into form.”
Defenders George Bello and Shaq Moore were dropped, along with midfielder Luca de La Torre and forward Matthew Hoppe. Ream dropped out during
October camp for family reasons.
Forwards Daryl Dike and Jordan Pefok were bypassed in favor of Jesus Ferreira, a 20-year-old Dallas forward selected for the first time since scoring his first two international goals in January exhibition against Trinidad and Tobago.