Will Atlanta United have any players on the U.S. men’s national team when it competes in the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup?
The team was placed atop Group B and will open the tournament on July 8 in Nashville. It will play on July 12 in Tampa and July 15 in Cleveland. Groups were announced on Monday. Mexico and Canada were also announced as the top teams in the remaining two groups.
The Gold Cup is a 12-team tournament featuring nations from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The Georgia Dome hosted semifinals of the 2015 event. Atlanta won’t host any portion of the 2017 event.
Complete groups and schedule for the 2017 Gold Cup will be announced next year.
The U.S. has won the Gold Cup five times.
Of the players Atlanta United has signed, central defender Michael Parkhurst would seem to be the only one that has a chance as of now to get a call up. He has made 25 appearances for the U.S. including in the 2007 and 2013 Gold Cups. He hasn’t played for the squad since 2014.
Should the rumored signing of goalkeeper Brad Guzan happen, he would almost certainly be called up by U.S. manager Bruce Arena. Guzan has more than 50 appearances for the team.
Of players with ties to Atlanta, defender Walker Zimmerman, a native of Lawrenceville, will get a call up to the winter camp, according to Arena. Should Zimmerman impress in a friendly against Serbia on Jan. 29, he may continue with appearances in World Cup qualifiers that begin in March, and then possibly the Gold Cup. Zimmerman has made numerous appearances for the youth national teams, but hasn’t appeared for the senior team.
Of the players on Atlanta United who could feature for another country in the Gold Cup, forward Kenwyne Jones was recently dropped by Trinidad and Tobago. But he could get called up against should T&T qualify.
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