Acosta makes his World Cup dream a reality
LAFC midfielder picked for U.S. team in Qatar, but Pepi, Steffen are left off.
Kellyn Acosta settled on one word to describe the last five days of his life.
“It’s just been a whirlwind,” he repeated multiple times
Saturday in Los Angeles, he scored his first playoff goal and won his first MLS Cup in LAFC’s penalty-kicks victory over the Philadelphia Union. Then Wednesday in New York he was handed a U.S. national team jersey and told he was going to his first World Cup.
“Ten years of trying to get to this point,” the LAFC midfielder said. “To not only win MLS Cup but also in the same week go to the World Cup, you would think I was crazy if I said that. But it’s a huge achievement for myself, for my family.”
Acosta is one of four players named to the team Wednesday, along with Christian Pulisic, Tim Ream and DeAndre Yedlin, who was also in Trinidad five years ago when the U.S. failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.
“That’s the beauty of the game,” he said. “Sometimes you work hard at something, you get rewarded and you get another opportunity.”
Yedlin, Acosta and Pulisic are the three most experienced players in terms of international appearances, and Ream, 35, is the oldest. With an average age of just more than 25 years, the 26man roster for Qatar is the second-youngest in U.S. World Cup history and probably will be the youngest in the 32-team tournament.
The U.S., ranked 16th in the world by FIFA, was drawn into the toughest of the eight groups in Qatar. The Americans will open play Nov. 21 against No. 19 Wales and will also play No. 5 England and 20th-ranked Iran in the first round, needing to finish in the top two to advance to the knockout rounds.
The omissions from Gregg Berhalter’s roster were probably more noteworthy than the selections. Left off was Zack Steffen, the most experienced goalkeeper in the U.S. player pool, and forward Ricardo Pepi, who appeared in 10 of the team’s 14 World Cup qualifiers, scoring three goals.
Steffen’s absence means Arsenal’s Matt Turner will be the team’s No. 1 keeper, backed by Ethan Horvath
Club teams, caps and goals in parentheses
GOALKEEPERS: Ethan Horvath (Luton Town, 8/0), Sean Johnson (New York City FC, 10/0), Matt Turner (Arsenal 20/0).
DEFENDERS: Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic, 11/0), Sergiño Dest (AC Milan, 19/2), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls, 29/3), Shaq Moore (Nashville SC, 15/1), Tim Ream (Fulham, 46/1), Antonee Robinson (Fulham, 29/2), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach, 3/0), DeAndre Yedlin (Inter Miami CF, 75/0), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC; 33/3).
MIDFIELDERS: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United, 24/6), Kellyn Acosta (LAFC, 53/2), Tyler Adams (Leeds United, 32/1), Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo, 12/0), Weston McKennie (Juventus, 37/9), Yunus Musah (Valencia, 19/0), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders FC, 32/0).
FORWARDS: Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas, 15/7), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders, 49/11), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea, 52/21), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund, 14/4), Josh Sargent (Norwich City, 20/5), Tim Weah (Lille, 25/3), Haji Wright (Antalyaspor, 3/1).