Orlando City’s Dom Dwyer is called up to the U.S. men’s national team camp.
Orlando City forward Dom Dwyer was called up to the latest U.S. men’s national team camp, signaling he may play a bigger role in the future for the rebuilding American squad.
D.C. United midfielder Ian Harkes, a son of former U.S. captain John Harkes, was among 15 players who could make their national team debuts in an exhibition against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Jan. 28 at Carson, Calif.
Acting U.S. coach Dave Sarachan announced a 30-man roster to report Wednesday to training camp. This is the second match for the Americans since
they failed to qualify for this year's World Cup.
“It's all about the future and opportunity,” said Sarachan, who assumed the interim job two weeks after Bruce Arena, his friend and mentor, resigned as coach of the national team in October. “This is a unique January camp that we're solely preparing for the future. We didn't bring in a lot of veteran players for that reason.”
The most experienced player is L.A. Galaxy midfielder Gyasi Zardes with 37 international appearances. The only other players with extensive national team experience are midfielder Paul Arriola, and forwards Juan Agudelo and Jordan Morris. The average age of the roster as of Wednesday is 24 years, 93 days, and 21 of the players are 24 and younger.
Ian Harkes, who turns 23 in March, won the 2016 Hermann Trophy as the top college player after captaining Wake Forest. He signed with Major League Soccer last January. His father was a midfielder for D.C. United who appeared in 90 games for the U.S.
The only players on the roster not with MLS are goalkeeper Bill Hamid, who left D.C. United to join Denmark's Midtjylland last week, and forward Rubio Rubin, whose contract with Norway's Stabaek expired at the end of the 2017 season.
Other possible players making debuts include goalkeepers Alex Bono, Cody Cropper and Zack Steffen; defenders Danny Acosta, Justen Glad, Nick Lima, Ike Opara, Tim Parker and Matt Polster; midfielders Russell Canouse, Marky Delgado, Marlon Hairston and Brooks Lennon; and forward Christian Ramirez.
The U.S. likely will not play a competitive match until the June or July 2019. Following the resignation of Arena, Sarachan coached the U.S. for a 1-1 tie at Portugal on Nov. 14.
Acosta, Glad and Lennon and defender Tyler Adams, who made his national team debut in November, helped the U.S. reach the quarterfinals of last year's Under-20 World Cup.
Europe-based players other than Hamid were not included because the game is not on a FIFA date and the international clubs would likely balk at releasing players.
And while the names on the roster indicate the U.S. has begun the process of building for the future, the team learned it will be doing so without teenage midfielder Jonathan Gonzalez, a U.S.Mexico dual national from Santa Rosa, Calif., who has decided to play for Mexico.
Gonzalez, 18, who plays for Monterrey in Mexico's Liga MX, has indicated he will file the necessary paperwork to switch international allegiance from the U.S. to Mexico. Gonzalez, who has played for several U.S. age-group teams but never for the senior national team, was not eligible to be called in for this camp since it falls outside a FIFA international window
If FIFA approves his request before the end of the month, Gonzalez could debut for Mexico in a friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Jan. 31 in San Antonio. He would likely compete for a spot on Mexico's World Cup roster as well.
Gonzalez wasn't called up for the U.S. team's friendly in Portugal in November, the first game the U.S. played after its failed qualifying campaign, and told Soccer America no one from the U.S. Soccer Federation called to explain the omission. That plus the fact the U.S. won't be in Russia for this summer's World Cup likely weighed heavily in his decision to switch from the U.S. to Mexico.
Consider that another casualty of a disastrous fall Sarachan and the U.S. will try to put behind them this month.
“The players that we will have, none of them really were a part of 2017,” Sarachan said. “They all, of course, are aware of what transpired. They're not dumb. We start today and move forward.”