Chicago (AFP) – Jurgen Klinsmann named a 22-man United States squad on Monday for an upcoming friendly against Puerto Rico ahead of next month’s Copa America Centenario.
The squad, made up entirely of US players based in Europe and Mexico, will form the basis of the roster for next month’s June 3-26 tournament. The final US squad for the Copa America will be named on May 20.
Major League Soccer-based players will be released from club duty on May 23 and join with the squad for a training camp.
On Sunday the US will face Puerto Rico in Bayamon for the first time in team history.
“We are doing this week in Miami and finishing off the week with a game in Puerto Rico because it’s really important in terms of transitioning our players coming in from Europe and some who are already done in Mexico to keep them in a flow, to keep them in a rhythm,” said Klinsmann.
“One of our lessons from last year’s Gold Cup was because the tournament was pushed into July, we couldn’t transition our European-based players and some of the Mexican players perfectly.
“We added some players coming from the younger side to look at them and to get a roster together, but the main purpose of this camp is to keep the rhythm, keep going and to transition perfectly into the preparation for the Copa America Centenario.”
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa/ENG), Tim Howard (Colorado Rapids/USA), Zack Steffen (SC Freiburg/GER)
Defenders: John Brooks (Hertha Berlin/GER), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City/ENG), Eric Lichaj (Nottingham Forest/ENG), Matt Miazga (Chelsea/ENG), Michael Orozco (Club Tijuana/MEX), Tim Ream (Fulham/ENG), DeAndre Yedlin (Tottenham/ENG)
Midfielders: Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes/FRA), Emerson Hyndman (Fulham/ENG), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Monchengladbach/GER), Perry Kitchen (Hearts/SCO), Alfredo Morales (Ingolstadt/GER), Caleb Stanko (SC Freiburg/GER), Danny Williams (Reading/ENG) Forwards: Paul Arriola (Club Tijuana/MEX), Julian Green (Bayern Munich/GER), Fabrice Picault (FC St. Pauli/GER), Amando Moreno (Club Tijuana/MEX), Bobby Wood (Hamburg/GER)
