Category: Concacaf Nations League

USMNT calls Aaronson, Wright up for Nations League as injury replacements

Snubbed no more, Aaronson and Wright will get their shot at the Nations League

The U.S. men’s national team has had to make a pair of changes, with Gregg Berhalter adding Brenden Aaronson and Haji Wright to his squad for the Concacaf Nations League.

The duo will join up with the USMNT after Luca de la Torre and Josh Sargent had to withdraw from the team with injuries ahead of Thursday’s semifinal against Jamaica in Arlington, Texas.

De la Torre was forced to withdraw with what U.S. Soccer called a quadriceps strain, while Sargent — whose superb recent form earned him his first call-up since 2022 — will miss out due to ankle irritation.

The recall comes at a critical time for Aaronson. The New Jersey native said he is enduring “the toughest year of my life” on Saturday, shortly after what was arguably his best single-game performance with Union Berlin. Aaronson scored the winner in a 2-1 victory over Werder Bremen, just two minutes after notching his first assist of the year.

Wright, meanwhile, is flying high. The USMNT recall comes a day after the Coventry City striker notched a stunning stoppage-time winner to send the Sky Blues through to the FA Cup semifinals. The Californian has eight goals in Coventry’s last 10 matches.

Despite the injury news, Berhalter had a series of options to sort through, particularly in replacing Sargent. Brandon Vazquez has been thriving since completing a winter transfer to Monterrey, while Jordan Pefok has started 10 straight for Borussia Mönchengladbach. If a wide attacker had been preferred, the list of players vying for a spot would have to include Kevin Paredes, Cade Cowell, Alex Zendejas, and Griffin Yow.

If Berhalter had concerns about the balance of his squad going too attack-heavy, Gianluca Busio, and Aidan Morris could have all been in the mix as well. Another option, Lennard Maloney, remains out for Heidenheim with a knock.

Updated USMNT Nations League finals roster

Goalkeepers (3): 22-Drake Callender (Inter Miami; 0/0), 18-Ethan Horvath (Cardiff City; 9/0), 1-Matt Turner (Nottingham Forest; 37/0)

Defenders (8): 2-Sergino Dest (PSV; 32/2), 23-Kristoffer Lund (Palermo; 3/0), 16-Mark McKenzie (Genk; 13/0), 13-Tim Ream (Fulham; 55/1), 3-Chris Richards (Crystal Palace; 14/1), 5-Antonee Robinson (Fulham; 39/4), 12-Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati; 28/3), 19-Joe Scally (Borussia Monchengladbach; 8/0)

Midfielders (5): 4-Tyler Adams (Bournemouth; 36/1), 15-Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis; 9/0), 8-Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA; 49/11), 6-Yunus Musah (AC Milan; 33/0), 7-Gio Reyna (Nottingham Forest; 24/7)

Forwards (7): 11-Brenden Aaronson (Union Berlin/GER; 38/8), 20-Folarin Balogun (Monaco; 8/3), 17-Malik Tillman (PSV; 8/0), 9-Ricardo Pepi (PSV; 22/10), 10-Christian Pulisic (AC Milan; 64/28), 21-Tim Weah (Juventus; 35/5), 14-Haji Wright (Coventry City/ENG; 7/2)

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USMNT captain Adams returns for Bournemouth after six months out

Adams’ return is a massive boost for the USMNT ahead of the Concacaf Nations League matches later this month

After six months on the sidelines, Tyler Adams is back.

The midfielder came on for Bournemouth in the 71st minute against Luton Town on Wednesday, marking his first appearance since September.

Bournemouth would go on to cap a miraculous comeback, as Antoine Semenyo claimed a brace to give the hosts — who trailed 3-0 at halftime — a stunning 4-3 win.

Barely two hours after Adams was named to a USMNT roster for the first time since the 2022 World Cup, the New York native returned from a hamstring injury that has required two surgeries.

The first came in March 2023, ending his season and playing a major factor in Leeds’ eventual relegation. The second came seven months later, shortly after Adams made a 20-minute Cherries debut that essentially set him right back to square one.

Bournemouth and the USMNT both had to be pleased to see him come on when he replaced Adam Smith in what was a wild match. Adams unsurprisingly stepped into a central midfield role for Andoni Iraola, who had his team see the game out in a 5-2-3 formation.

Shortly before that match kicked off, USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter addressed reporters, discussing what had to happen for Adams to be in the 23-player Nations League squad.

“This decision was basically the output of months of communication with his club to track where he’s at, to see the levels that he’s performing at in training, the loads that he’s doing in training,” explained Berhalter. “Finally, a conversation with [Iraola] two days ago, and really hearing from the coach where he thinks Tyler’s at.”

Per Berhalter, Iraola gave a glowing review of Adams’ progress, which in turn sealed the deal from the USMNT’s perspective.

“He couldn’t say enough good things about [Adams],” said Berhalter. “He’s actually ready to play minutes [Wednesday] in the Premier League. So, we’ll see how that ends up, potentially 30 minutes, 15 minutes, who knows?

“But certainly, they think at the club that he has enough to play up to 45 minutes for us. So once we heard that, we jumped at that idea, because he means so much to the team, both on and off the field. It’d be nice to get him back. His last time with the national team was at the World Cup, so he’s been missed for a while. It’ll be nice to get him back into this group.”

Berhalter made sure to keep the door open for Adams as long as he could, naming him to the team’s 60-player preliminary roster for the upcoming Nations League semifinal against Jamaica (March 21), which will be followed by a contest — either a final or a third-place game —against Mexico or Panama on March 24.

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