Injured Pulisic, Reyna to miss US World Cup qualifiers

Los Angeles (AFP) – Chelsea star Christian Pulisic and Borussia Dortmund’s Gio Reyna were left out of the United States squad for upcoming 2022 World Cup qualifiers on Wednesday but Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie has earned a recall from suspension.

USA coach Gregg Berhalter has named a 27-man roster for games against Jamaica, Panama and Costa Rica as his team look to build on a 4-1 away victory over Honduras in the last round of CONCACAF qualifiers.

Pulisic has been omitted as he recovers from an ankle injury sustained in the win over Honduras while Reyna also misses out as he works his way back from a hamstring problem.

However McKennie is back in favour after being dropped for two qualifiers earlier this month after breaching Covid-19 protocols.

RB Leipzig’s Tyler Adams is in the squad after recovering from a muscle injury while Valencia midfielder Yunus Musah, who failed to make the squad for the opening qualifying games, gets his first call-up of the World Cup campaign.

Veteran striker Gyasi Zardes, Real Mallorca’s Matthew Hoppe and D.C. United’s Paul Arriola have also been recalled.

“We are excited to get the group back together for this next round of World Cup qualifiers,” Berhalter said.

“This squad represents a diverse group of talent, and we will need to rely on each and every team member to navigate through these three games. Our focus now is Jamaica and preparing to win that game.”

The USA face Jamaica in Austin on October 7 before facing away games against Panama on October 10 and Costa Rica three days later.

The US are third in the eight-team final round of qualifiers for North America, Central America and the Caribbean with five points from three games.

The top three teams qualify automatically for next year’s finals in Qatar, while the fourth place team advances to an inter-confederation play-off.

Squad:

Goalkeepers

Sean Johnson (New York City FC), Zack Steffen (Manchester City/ENG), Matt Turner (New England Revolution)

Defenders

 George Bello (Atlanta United), John Brooks (Wolfsburg/GER), Sergino Dest (Barcelona/ESP), Mark McKenzie (Genk/BEL), Shaq Moore (Tenerife/ESP), Tim Ream (Fulham/ENG), Chris Richards (Hoffenheim/GER), Antonee Robinson (Fulham/ENG), Miles Robinson (Atlanta United), DeAndre Yedlin (Galatasaray/TUR)

Midfielders

 Kellyn Acosta (Colorado Rapids), Tyler Adams (RB Leipzig/GER), Gianluca Busio (Venezia/ITA), Luca de la Torre (Heracles/NED), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy), Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA), Yunus Musah (Valencia/ESP), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders)

Forwards

 Brenden Aaronson (Red Bull Salzburg/AUT), Paul Arriola (D.C. United), Matthew Hoppe (Mallorca/ESP), Ricardo Pepi (FC Dallas), Tim Weah (Lille/FRA), Gyasi Zardes (Columbus Crew)