U.S. Men's National Team head coach Gregg Berhalter will continue the evaluation process of the MNT pool in his second camp in charge as 24 players have been called to gather beginning March 17 in Orlando. The team building process takes its next steps with challenges against Ecuador on March 21 at Orlando City Stadium, then five days later against defending South American champion Chile on March 26 at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston. Both matches will be shown live at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2, UniMas and UDN.
"Our goal is to keep making progress. Building on the themes of last camp, building on the style of play of last camp, but also now evaluating a new group of players," Berhalter said. "We made progress in the first camp and it's now asking if we can take it to another level. When we are done with this camp, it's important that we have a good idea of our strongest group of players heading into the Gold Cup."
U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION (Club; Caps/Goals):
GOALKEEPERS (3): Ethan Horvath (Club Brugge, BEL; 3/0), Sean Johnson (New York City FC; 6/0), Zac Steffen (Columbus Crew SC; 8/0)
DEFENDERS (8): John Brooks (Wolfsburg, GER; 36/3), Omar Gonzalez (Atlas, MEX; 48/3), Nick Lima (San Jose Earthquakes; 2/0), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls; 4/0), Daniel Lovitz (Montreal Impact; 2/0), Matt Miazga (Reading, ENG; 11/1), Tim Ream (Fulham, ENG; 26/1), DeAndre Yedlin (Newcastle United, ENG; 57/0)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Tyler Adams (RB Leipzig, GER; 9/1), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC, CAN; 143/17), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy; 7/2), Weston McKennie (Schalke, GER; 7/1), Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund, GER; 23/9), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders FC; 7/0), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew SC; 13/0)
FORWARDS (6): Paul Arriola (D.C. United; 19/3), Corey Baird (Real Salt Lake; 2/0), Jonathan Lewis (New York City FC; 2/0), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders FC; 25/5), Christian Ramirez (LAFC; 2/1), Gyasi Zardes (Columbus Crew SC; 42/6)
U.S. NATIONAL TEAM IN HOUSTON
Houston has a tremendous history of supporting the Men’s National Team, posting four of the top 15 highest attendances to watch the MNT since 2000. This is the USA’s second visit to BBVA Compass Stadium, having previously played Canada in the opening match of its Centennial campaign in 2013.
The city is one of 17 competing within the United States to host matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
KEEPING CONSISTENT
Fourteen players on the roster were part of the month-long January Camp, steeping themselves in the team culture and style of play. With a shorter window and two challenging opponents, familiarity equals opportunity when it comes to building on the foundation established against Panama and Costa Rica.
"We thought it was important to tie some of the themes of last camp into this next camp and to have some consistency in the personnel made a lot of sense," Berhalter said. "Again, we still think we're able to evaluate a new group of players and we think that is going to be valuable as we move into the Gold Cup."
NEW 'OLD' FACES
At the same time, Berhalter gets the opportunity to work in person with many veterans of the MNT who are based outside the United States. Having visited virtually all of those players in previous trips overseas, a total of 10 will now get their first experience in the new era. Of the 10, eight are based in Europe and one each in Mexico and MLS.
PREPARING TO PREPARE
One of the challenges for any National Team coach is impacting their players during the long periods between matches. Now add in a new coach and a new game model, and addressing that gap becomes more important. The coaching staff has spent the last six weeks attempting to do just that.
"We have laid a lot of ground work in preparation for this camp," Berhalter said. "It entailed meeting with the players, video conferences with the players, conversations with the players, evaluating their games ... it's a very important time period to keep working and be productive. We've used that time to meet the players and communicate what we're looking to do in the next camp."
