Gregg Berhalter cannot risk rust from his MLS-based players for November’s pivotal CONCACAF Champions League matches versus Canada and Cuba, and has called 19 players for a pre-camp from Nov. 2-9.
While the roster will undoubtedly have Christian Pulisic, Sergino Dest, and a bevy of European-based players, it will also have several MLS faces who have been eliminated by the playoffs or did not qualify altogether.
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Berhalter has to make sure those players are fit and firing, and has included two players from sides eliminated from the MLS Cup Playoffs in the past two nights (Brad Guzan and Walker Zimmerman).
Uncapped defenders Chase Gaspar of Minnesota United and both Mark McKenzie of Philadelphia have been called up alongside McKenzie’s club teammate Brendan Aaronson and New England goalkeeper Matt Turner.
Djordje Mihailovic, Jonathan Lewis, and Jeremy Ebobisse are also back in the mix for the first time, while no MLS players called up in October has been dropped from the roster.
Toronto FC’s Michael Bradley and Seattle duo Cristian Roldan and Jordan Morris are understandably omitted due to MLS Cup Final duty.
The U.S. plays Canada in Florida on Nov. 15 and Cuba in the Cayman Islands four days later.
