CHICAGO, ILL.- Of all the teams in the region, only the United States men’s national team has an opportunity to claim two trophies in Concacaf competition this summer.
One reason the Concacaf Nations League championship was so satisfying to many on the USMNT squad was that it came at the expense of longtime rivals Mexico. In 2019, Mexico claimed the Gold Cup trophy over the U.S. on a single Jonathan dos Santos goal. Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter were all part of the 2019 group that felt a certain measure of redemption from that loss when lifting the Nations League trophy.
However, other players, like Cristian Roldan, who had a shot cleared off the goal line in the 88th minute of that 2019 final, are still waiting for a similar sort of personal satisfaction. Now Roldan, Gyasi Zardes, Paul Arriola, and Reggie Cannon, have returned to try to complete the Gold Cup mission that was denied them before.
“Anytime we’re competing for a trophy, we want to win,” noted Berhalter on a media video call, stating he was preparing the team for tough tests. “We know the games are going to be difficult.”
To help the team push to that victory, Berhalter picked the roster with an eye toward resting most European players, bringing in new talent, while relying on certain veterans. “A lot of the work we’ve done since 2019 is to prepare this group and also build team cohesion,” Berhalter mentioned, listing players like Walker Zimmerman, Sebastian Lletget, Jackson Yueill, Arriola and Cannon. “They’re already familiar with our style of play.”
Familiarity doesn’t mean players won’t be pushed out of their comfort zone at times. Berhalter explained that while he didn’t consider the roster to be an experimental one, he was planning adjustments and asking players to perform in different roles. Arriola, Berhalter mentioned, will likely play in the tournament as a winger, though for DC United, he usually plays as a center-forward.
Berhalter also spoke of wanting to reward players for excelling with their club teams and the importance of validating quality performances as the path to earn one’s way into national team opportunities. So along with more battle-tested elements, there is a segment of players on the roster who are hungry and eager to prove themselves to the coach.
“We talked about some of the challenges this year was going to bring,” Berhalter stated. “It’s an exciting group of players, with a mix of some veterans.”
