Aside from the friendlies, Jurgen Klinsmann has an eye on the Confederations Cup playoff vs. Mexico Oct. 10 at the Rose Bowl. (Nick Wass/Associated Press)
Jurgen Klinsmann’s 23-man roster for the U.S. men’s national team friendly Friday against Peru at RFK Stadium features many familiar faces, but two of the most well-known and experienced, forward Clint Dempsey and midfielder Michael Bradley, are not part of it.
Dempsey and Bradley were allowed to remain with their respective MLS clubs through next weekend and then report to U.S. camp ahead of the Sept. 8 friendly against Brazil at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. Dempsey’s Seattle Sounders will host Bradley’s Toronto FC on Saturday.
With both U.S. matches falling inside the FIFA match calendar, Klinsmann had the right to summon anyone he pleased without interference from clubs. However, while most leagues shut down during international windows, MLS scheduled several games.
As part of the constant give-and-take between national team coaches and clubs, Klinsmann decided, in this instance, to allow Dempsey and Bradley to skip the Peru game. Earlier this year, both players were away from their clubs for extended periods while serving with the national team.
In comments distributed by the U.S. Soccer Federation, Klinsmann said: “By leaving out Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley for the first game, we can give an opportunity to some others to make an impression. We’ll bring them both over for the game against Brazil.”
Klinsmann also cited Dempsey’s injuries. He has played once over 2 1/2 months, largely because of health and fitness issues. Seattle’s Brad Evans, who played in the CONCACAF Gold Cup this summer, was passed over. Toronto’s Jozy Altidore was named to the U.S. squad.
“The situation with our forwards is wide open,” Klinsmann said. “Obviously the most consistent player over the last years with us has always been Clint Dempsey, but Clint right now also has some injury issues and is obviously not the youngest anymore [32 years old], so we constantly try to develop the next wave of forwards and so far nobody has a real big advantage over another guy.”
For the Peru match, Altidore is Klinsmann’s most experienced forward. Also called in were Aron Johannsson, a World Cup reserve who moved to Werder Bremen from Dutch club AZ Alkmaar this month and scored his first Bundesliga goal Sunday on a first-half penalty kick against Moenchengladbach.
The rest of the frontline corps includes Union Berlin’s Bobby Wood, who scored late winning goals in friendlies against the Netherlands and Germany in June; Gyasi Zardes, a rising star with the Los Angeles Galaxy; and Andrew Wooten, a German-American whose five goals in five matches with Sandhausen in Germany’s second-tier league earned him a first call-up.
Aside from Bradley and Dempsey joining the squad later, Klinsmann will swap third-string goalkeepers after the Peru game: Mexican-based William Yarbrough will report to Washington and the Chicago Fire’s Sean Johnson will back up Tim Howard and Brad Guzan in Foxborough. D.C. United’s Bill Hamid, the 2014 MLS goalkeeper of the year, has battled injuries all year but also fallen out of favor with Klinsmann.
Howard, 36, is returning to the program after a one-year leave from international soccer; he has played solely for Everton in the Premier League since his standout performance at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Klinsmann announced last week that Howard would rejoin the team and challenge Guzan for the starting job in the next major match, the Confederations Cup playoff against Mexico on Oct. 10 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
Klinsmann might make additional roster changes after the Peru game, the USSF said.
Defender DaMarcus Beasley, who came out of international retirement to join the U.S. Gold Cup squad this summer, was also scheduled to report for the Peru and Brazil friendlies. But a calf injury suffered Saturday with the Houston Dynamo ruined those plans. Injuries have also sidelined two other outside backs: German-based Fabian Johnson (calf) and Timmy Chandler (knee).
Midfielder Jermaine Jones is back with the team after missing the Gold Cup with a hernia injury. Defender Matt Besler, a World Cup starter, is also back in the mix after falling out of favor with Klinsmann.
In the broader picture, Klinsmann will use these friendlies to rebound from a fourth-place finish at the Gold Cup and prepare for the showdown with Mexico, a game that will determine the CONCACAF representative at the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia.
“Our message to these guys is simple: Prove a point that you want to be at the Rose Bowl,” he said. “With these games, it is not the time to be patient. This is really now time for the guys to make a really strong impression that they understand the situation we’re in because of what happened in the Gold Cup. These games are not about developing things for the future. This is about proving a point towards the Mexico game.”
U.S. roster for the Peru friendly:
GOALKEEPERS: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), William Yarbrough (Leon).
DEFENDERS: Ventura Alvarado (Club America), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), John Brooks (Hertha Berlin), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Greg Garza (Atlas), Omar Gonzalez (L.A. Galaxy), Michael Orozco (Tijuana), Tim Ream (Fulham).
MIDFIELDERS: Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes), Joe Corona (Veracruz), Mix Diskerud (New York City FC), Jermaine Jones (New England Revolution), Alfredo Morales (Ingolstadt), Danny Williams (Reading), DeAndre Yedlin (Tottenham Hotspur).
FORWARDS: Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Aron Johannsson (Werder Bremen), Bobby Wood (Union Berlin), Andrew Wooten (Sandhausen), Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy).
