Interim head coach Anthony Hudson has named his 24-man squad for upcoming Nations League matches against Grenada and El Salvador. Hudson has called Gio Reyna back in while Alejandro Zendejas is also a member of the squad after officially committing to represent the United States. It’s a heavily European based squad, but without Tyler Adams who is sidelined with a hamstring injury. Without his midfielder, Hudson will have a few challenges entering these games, which are must wins as they have the potential to determine the summer schedule.The USMNT are currently in second place in Group D after drawing their match against El Salvador. Winning the group is quite important this year because not only would topping the group mean an automatic berth to the quarterfinals, but now it also comes with the additional prize of an automatic berth to play in the 2024 Copa America.If the USMNT are unable to snag the top spot they’d then need to play a second group stage in October and November which would include six teams. It would take a top two in that group to punch their ticket to the quarterfinals to continue their defense of their Nations League title. Furthermore, the four teams that win those second group stage groups would also then have a playoff to determine the final two Concacaf spots in Copa America.With that laid out, let’s take a look at who Hudson called in:Roster GOALKEEPERS (3): Ethan Horvath (Luton Town/ENG; 8/0), Zack Steffen (Middlesbrough/ENG; 29/0), Matt Turner (Arsenal/ENG; 24/0)
DEFENDERS (8): Sergiño Dest (AC Milan/ITA; 23/2), Mark McKenzie (Genk/BEL; 10/0), Tim Ream (Fulham/ENG; 50/1), Bryan Reynolds (Westerlo/BEL; 2/0), Antonee Robinson (Fulham; 33/2), Miles Robinson (Atlanta United; 20/3), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach/GER; 3/0), Auston Trusty (Birmingham City/ENG; 0/0)MIDFIELDERS (6): Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United/ENG; 28/6), Johnny Cardoso (Internacional/BRA; 4/0), Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo/ESP; 12/0), Weston McKennie (Leeds United/ENG; 41/9), Yunus Musah (Valencia/ESP; 23/0), Alan Soñora (Juárez/MEX; 2/0)FORWARDS (7): Taylor Booth (Utrecht/NED; 0/0), Daryl Dike (West Bromwich Albion/ENG; 8/3), Ricardo Pepi (Groningen/NED; 12/3), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea/ENG; 56/22), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund/GER; 16/4), Tim Weah (Lille/FRA; 29/4), Alex Zendejas (Club América/MEX; 1/0)Zendejas will be in line for his first official cap in a FIFA competition after making his first appearance in the squad in a January friendly against Serbia. Reyna also returns to his first squad since the World Cup, closing the door on questions about what his future may hold after the U.S. Soccer investigation into a feud between his parents and Gregg Berhalter. With that resolved and Reyna back in the squad, this will be one fewer thing that any new manager and sporting director will need to deal with in the future.
Zack Steffen also returns after missing the World Cup squad while MLS players have been left with their clubs due to the league not having a formal international break as it just got underway a few weeks ago. But even without the MLS players, Hudson will have quite a talented side to choose from.