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U.S. National Team

Klinsmann Calls in 22 for First Match of 2018 Cycle

Want a glimpse at the future of American soccer? Jurgen Klinsmann announced 22 players for the September 3 friendly against the Czech Republic—his first roster of the 2018 World Cup cycle.
BY John Godfrey Posted
August 28, 2014
3:38 PM
DID YOU ENJOY your little post-World Cup break, U.S. soccer fans? Or did you suffer through U.S. men's national team withdrawals like we did?

Fear not—the road to the 2018 World Cup in Russia began today with U.S. Soccer's release of Jurgen Klinsmann's roster. Klinsmann selected 22 players for the September 3 match against the Czech Republic in Prague. (American Soccer Now will have two reporters at that match, incidentally, bringing you all of the content you could ever want.)

Here is the official roster list—which may need a bit of adjusting given Geoff Cameron's injury situation.

GOALKEEPERS: Cody Cropper (Southampton), Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)

DEFENDERS: John Brooks (Hertha Berlin), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Timothy Chandler (Eintracht Frankfurt), Greg Garza (Club Tijuana), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Michael Orozco (Puebla), Tim Ream (Bolton)

MIDFIELDERS: Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), Mix Diskerud (Rosenborg), Julian Green (Bayern Munich), Emerson Hyndman (Fulham), Alfredo Morales (Ingolstadt), Brek Shea (Stoke City)

FORWARDS: Jozy Altidore (Sunderland), Joe Gyau (Borussia Dortmund II), Jordan Morris (Stanford), Rubio Rubin (Utrecht), Bobby Wood (1860 Munich)

The roster features five players from this side of the Atlantic, but only one athlete—Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando—from Major League Soccer. Terrence Boyd and Aron Johannsson were unavailable due to injuries. And Tim Howard, of course, is on a yearlong break from the U.S. national team.

CLICK: CREATE YOUR U.S. STARTING XI RIGHT HERE

And yes, it's a very young side—by design.

“When you start a new cycle, you want to see as many new players and young players breaking in as possible," Klinsmann said through a press release. "Obviously you always respect your established players and you always want to give them the space to continue their good work, but you also want to use that opportunity going forward to introduce young blood into the program, give them time on the training field, and you also want to give them time in a real game and prove a point.

"Show us what you have. Show us your talent, be confident and go for your next level. This is what comes up in the next couple games. It’s about young players coming in and hopefully doing well, with the established ones being part of it as well. We try to mix things up, but we are curious about the next generation of players breaking in. It is also very vital towards Russia 2018 that we already communicate now, four years away, that there is a path for you laid out, but you as a player decide at the end of the day whether you make that path or not."

Promising teens Rubio Rubin and Emerson Hyndman—the two youngest players in the ASN 100—will be seeking their first international caps while Jordan Morris, an exciting sophomore forward from Stanford University, is the biggest surprise on the list.

“We look at this as the start of our project toward Russia in 2018, and in this first step we get to look at many of our talented young players based in Europe,” Klinsmann said. “We have some great youngsters coming through the ranks that are starting to break through with their clubs teams and are ready to challenge for spots on the senior team, and even most of our World Cup veterans from Brazil on this roster will be coming into the prime of their careers in the next four years, so this is an exciting opportunity.”

We will be posting multiple articles about this roster in the coming days, and you are encouraged to craft, and share, your personal Starting XI right here on ASN.

Comments? Questions? Concerns? Share your take below, please.

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