Young USMNT Squad Complements Landon Donovan’s Farewell

By Douglas Smith @DFresh39 on October 6, 2014

After the Official Match Period on the FIFA International Calendar opened, Jurgen Klinsmann named the USMNT squad for the next round of friendlies. The big story this week will be the farewell match for Landon Donovan. With a celebration of a great career comes an eye on the next stars with younger players getting a chance to show their worth in a new World Cup cycle.

The 21-player roster features a mix of players from MLS and Europe. Miguel Ibarra of the NASL‘s Minnesota United FC is also on the roster, but his name was leaked last week. Ibarra is the only player on the team that can make their senior team debut, but several players are still in single digits. Joe Gyau, Bobby Wood and Alfredo Morales are among the players still getting their feet wet with the USMNT. Greg Garza and Luis Gil will get another chance as well.

Much of the focus will be on Donovan. In a recent interview with Grant Wahl he stated that he and Klinsmann have not talked about the farewell match. When U.S. Soccer announced that Donovan’s last match would be Friday, it took the coach some time to acknowledge it on Twitter despite President Sunil Gulati chiming in well ahead of the head coach. Donovan’s last match in the U.S. kit will come against Ecuador, but the rest of the team will move on to face Honduras on Oct. 14. Klinsmann is expected to make a few tweaks to the roster in between the matches.

With the MLS season winding down, some players will stay with their teams for the weekend. As usual for this time of year, the MLS schedule has kept the number of players from the league called into camp rather low with only six players on the original roster. Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley are among the players expected to report to camp on Sunday, although resting them would not be a bad idea — especially if it gives someone like Lee Nguyen a chance.

For now plenty of fringe players are looking to make their mark. There is more experience in the back but still plenty of position battles for all of the upcoming competitions. The biggest name missing from the list is Fabian Johnson, but he has had some issues with an Achilles tendon injury despite playing 70 minutes this past weekend. Here is the full roster.

GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan, Bill Hamid, Nick Rimando

DEFENDERS (7): John Brooks, Timmy Chandler, Garza, Omar Gonzalez, Michael Orozco, Tim Ream, DeAndre Yedlin

MIDFIELDERS (6): Alejandro Bedoya, Joe Corona, Mix Diskerud, Gil, Julian Green, Morales

FORWARDS (5): Jozy Altidore, Donovan, Gyau, Ibarra, Wood

Douglas Smith is a soccer writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @DFresh39, “Like” him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google.

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