Gyasi Zardes and Omar Gonzalez are called up by the U.S. national team
Galaxy forward Gyasi Zardes and former teammate Omar Gonzalez, a defender now playing for Pachuca in Mexico’s Liga MX, were among 40 players named Sunday to the U.S. national team’s preliminary roster for next month’s Copa America.
The 23-day tournament, which will be staged in the U.S. for the first time, will be played in 10 U.S. cities and will feature South American powerhouses Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Uruguay in addition to Mexico.
Also named to the U.S. roster were World Cup veterans Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones, who are all playing in Major League Soccer, and teenager Christian Pulisic of Germany’s Borussia Dortmund.
Surprising among the omissions was Orlando City’s Brek Shea and Santos Laguna midfielder Jorge Villafana, an Anaheim native who has played for U.S. age-group national teams. Making the team in their place was defender Eric Lichaj, who last played for the national team in 2013. Lichaj is now with Nottingham Forest of England’s second-tier Championship.
The U.S. will play three Copa America tuneups -- May 22 in Puerto Rico; May 25 against Ecuador in Frisco, Texas; and May 28 against Bolivia in Kansas City. The 16 Copa America teams are required to make their preliminary tournament rosters public Monday. Teams must trim their rosters to the tournament-limit 23 players by May 20.
The roster:
Goalkeppers: David Bingham (San Jose Earthquakes), Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Ethan Horvath (Molde), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake).
Defenders: Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas), Ventura Alvarado (Club America), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Steve Birnbaum (D.C. United), John Brooks (Hertha Berlin), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Edgar Castillo (Monterrey), Timmy Chandler (Eintracht Frankfurt), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders FC), Omar Gonzalez (Pachuca), Eric Lichaj (Nottingham Forest), Matt Miazga (Chelsea FC), Michael Orozco (Club Tijuana), Tim Ream (Fulham), DeAndre Yedlin (Sunderland).
Midfielders: Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Alejandro Bedoya (FC Nantes), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Mix Diskerud (New York City FC), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Jermaine Jones (Colorado Rapids), Perry Kitchen (Heart of Midlothian), Alfredo Morales (Ingolstadt), Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers), Lee Nguyen (New England Revolution), Danny Williams (Reading FC), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City).
Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC), Ethan Finlay (Columbus Crew), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders FC), Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund),Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes), Bobby Wood (Union Berlin), Gyasi Zardes (Galaxy).
