Mauricio Pochettino has presented his squad for the Gold Cup, and it is notable for its important absences. In addition to the absence of Christian Pulisic, anticipated some time ago, Weston McKennie, Timothy Weah and Giovanni Reyna are also missing, so the Stars and Stripes will not be able to count on their most experienced players for the tournament.
McKennie, Weah and Reyna will not participate in the 2025 Gold Cup due to the Club World Cup, where Juventus, the club where McKennie and Weah play, and Borussia Dortmund, the team of Gio Reyna, will participate.
Why won’t Christian Pulisic play in the Gold Cup?
As for the absence of Captain America, this is due to personal reasons, as by the player’s own decision in conjunction with the coaching staff, they have decided to give him a rest after a difficult season with AC Milan.
Another player who will miss the Gold Cup is Sergino Dest, who missed much of the season due to an anterior cruciate ligament tear in his knee, so as a precaution and because of his lack of rhythm he would not have been taken into account in the squad.
The technical, medical and high-performance staff have carried out a series of assessments this week on all the players in the camp and, in the case of Sergino, we have determined that the best decision is for the player to follow an individualised training programme during the summer so that he can focus on fully recovering and be ready to perform at his best next season
In addition to these absences, Pochettino has decided to discard any player outside of MLS or European soccer, as neither Cade Cowell nor Alejandro Zendejas have managed to make the final list.
The inconsistent performance of the ‘Vaquero’ with Chivas, as well as the drop in form of Zendejas in the playoffs, after an impressive performance in the regular phase in Liga MX, would not have gone unnoticed by Pochettino, who has opted for lesser-known strikers such as Patrick Agyemang of Charlotte FC, or Brian White of Vancouver Whitecaps.
Mauricio Pochettino’s call-up for the 2025 Gold Cup
- Goalkeepers: Patrick Schulte (Columbus Crew), Zack Steffen (Middlesbrough) and Matt Turner (Crystal Palace).
- Defenders: Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew), Alex Freeman (Orlando City), Nathan Harriel (Philadelphia Union), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati), John Tolkin (Holstein Kiel) and Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC).
- Midfielders: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United), Tyler Adams (Bournemouth), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps), Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis), Luca de la Torre (San Diego FC), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake), Jack McGlynn (Houston Dynamo), Quinn Sullivan (Philadelphia Union) and Timothy Tillman (LAFC).
- Forwards: Paxten Aaronson (FC Utrecht), Patrick Agyemang (Charlotte FC), Damion Downs (FC Köln), Brian White (Vancouver Whitecaps) and Haji Wright (Coventry City).
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