CHICAGO (AP) — Sergiño Dest was dropped from the U.S. roster for the CONCACAF Gold Cup over fitness concerns, leaving the Americans heading to the tournament with just four players who started in the team's final match of the 2022 World Cup.
“The technical, medical and high performance staffs have done a series of evaluations this week on all the players in camp, and in the case of Sergiño we determined the best decision is for the player to have an individualized training program for the summer so he can focus on being fully recovered and ready to perform next season,” coach Mauricio Pochettino said in a statement Thursday.
Dest, a starter at outside back, tore an ACL during training with PSV Eindhoven on April 20, 2024, and returned to action March 8. He appeared is seven matches, including four starts, but didn't play a full 90 minutes until the season finale on May 18.
John Tolkin, who transferred in January to Holstein Kiel from the New York Red Bulls, was added to the roster and was scheduled to arrive at training Thursday.
Trying to rebound after flops in last summer's Copa America and the CONCACAF Nations League in March, the U.S. already was missing Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, Antonee Robinson, Yunus Musah, Folarin Balogun and Gio Reyna.
Pulisic wanted time off, Robinson had knee surgery on May 27, Balogun has an ankle injury and Musah asked out for a reason the U.S. Soccer Federation didn't specify. Weah, McKennie and Reyna were blocked from the tournament by FIFA, which ruled team's in the Club World cup have priority to players.
The only players on the 26-man roster who started in the second-round loss to the Netherlands at the 2022 World Cup are goalkeeper Matt Turner, central defenders Tim Ream and Walker Zimmerman, and midfielder Tyler Adams.
The Americans have friendlies against Turkey on Saturday at East Hartford, Connecticut, and Switzerland three days later at Nashville, Tennessee, then meet Trinidad and Tobago, Saudi Arabia and Haiti in the first round of the Gold Cup.
The Gold Cup will be the last competitive matches for the U.S. before it cohosts the 2026 World Cup.
Fifteen players are from Major League Soccer and seven could make national team debuts: goalkeepers Chris Brady and Matt Freese; defenders Alex Freeman and Nathan Harriel; midfielders Sebastian Berhalter and Quinn Sullivan; and forward Damion Downs.
The roster:
Goalkeepers: Chris Brady (Chicago), Matt Freese (New York City), Matt Turner (Crystal Palace)
Defenders: Max Arfsten (Columbus), Alex Freeman (Orlando), Nathan Harriel (Philadelphia), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse), Tim Ream (Charlotte), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Miles Robinson (Cincinnati), John Tolkin (Holstein Kiel), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville)
Midfielders: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds); Tyler Adams (Bournemouth), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver), Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis), Luca de la Torre (San Diego), Diego Luna (Salt Lake), Jack McGlynn (Houston), Quinn Sullivan (Philadelphia); Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven)
Forwards: Paxten Aaronson (Utrecht), Patrick Agyemang (Charlotte), Damion Downs (Cologne), Brian White (Vancouver), Haji Wright (Coventry City)
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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