USMNT reward MLS standouts with Concacaf Nations League call | OneFootball

By Charles Boehm

Tetracampeon.

It’s a Spanish term meaning “four-time champions.” It’s the goal for Mauricio Pochettino and the US men’s national team as they convene in Southern California later this month to defend their Concacaf Nations League title. And the coach has called on Diego Luna, Patrick Agyemang, Brian White and three other MLS standouts to help achieve that objective, rewarding them for their displays in this year’s January camp with a chance to impress in a full USMNT squad.

Agyemang, Luna get the nod

Injuries to Ricardo Pepi and Folarin Balogun have opened the door for Agyemang and White, both of whom scored in January’s friendly wins over Venezuela and Costa Rica, to compete with in-form Norwich City man Josh Sargent for the No. 9 role ahead of a CNL semifinal clash with Panama at SoFi Stadium on March 20. The winner of that match will advance to meet either Canada or Mexico in the title bout three days later.

“We are going to have three different strikers with three different characteristics,” Pochettino told reporters on a virtual press conference after the roster was revealed on Tuesday. “Talking about Patrick, I think he’s still a little bit raw, it's a little bit a player that you can feel that he can evolve and learn a lot. But I think the potential and the characteristics, if he continues his progression, we can talk about for the future in a very good striker, and now it's up to him.

“I was so happy, we are so happy about the January camp. He showed that we can trust in him … I'm calling him now to show that we really believe in him.”

Luna’s inclusion is striking, considering how he was snubbed from last year’s US Olympic team and subsequently revealed he’d consider playing for Mexico, the country of his parents’ birther – though perhaps not surprising given the commitment and resolve he showed to shake off a broken nose and play the game-winning assist in the Costa Rica victory, prompting Pochettino to marvel on live television at the “big balls” it showed.

“He’s a player that we already follow from the day that we signed in the USA national team, and of course yes, we want to give another possibility, not only in the January camp,” said Pochettino.

“He’s a player that can provide different things during the game, and yes, and I think it's important for him to feel the confidence from us. I think he was good in the January camp, and that is why we wanted to provide the possibility to join us again.”

Roster spots up for grabs

Also of note, New York City FC academy alum Gio Reyna is in the fold for the first time in Poch’s tenure despite his limited playing time at Borussia Dortmund. The coach explained that he and a few others whose clubs are particpating in this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup on US soil need to be in camp this month, because under FIFA regulations their club duties at the CWC will trump a national-team call-up for the Gold Cup, which will unfold over the same period in other parts of the country.

MLSers Patrick Schulte and Zack Steffen will also have a chance to win the starting goalkeeper role, with Poch speaking of an “open competition” for that job between that duo and New England Revolution alum Matt Turner, now at Crystal Palace.

As he has on many occasions in his half-year in charge, Pochettino repeatedly emphasized how highly he values competition for places in his group, and the intensity individual players need to fuel their prospects in that race. Along those lines, he cautioned that no one, not even New York Red Bulls product Tyler Adams, a linchpin of the USMNT midfield for most of the last seven years when healthy and a high-level performer for English Premier League upstarts Bournemouth in recent weeks, is assured of a spot on the roster, or on the pitch.

So too goes the message for the likes of Brenden Aaronson, Richie Ledezma and others left out of this camp.

“There are players who have been left out and they must show that rebellion to show that they can come back again,” explained the Argentine manager in Spanish. “The names don't matter, but the representation and the shirt when we go out on the pitch, for me the opportunity to win a title is important and it should be important for everyone.

“I'm so disappointed, because we cannot call 50 or 60 players. And for sure, too many deserve to be [called], but we don't have places. We don't have a number for them to be with us. That is why the commitment and the focus and the respect for the team, for the squad, for the country, every time that they are going to be with the national team, they need to be 200%, very committed with this project, because if not, too many players are outside waiting for the same places.”

Stay hungry

The Yanks have won every edition of Nations League thus far, three times on the trot, and he warned his squad not to let that diminish their drive for more as the final countdown to the 2026 World Cup looms.

“Many players have already won this competition and always the hunger is lost a little when you win; we want to continue with that hunger,” added Pochettino. “We want to continue competing, it is always better to build from victory. And what I have to focus on is creating that line of what we want to do on and off the pitch.

"Discipline on and off the pitch is fundamental, it's not just the World Cup that matters to me. The World Cup is the end, but it's important for them to know that all the players can compete.”

Diego Luna: 2024 MLS Young Player of the Year