Category: USMNT

Folarin Balogun confirmed in Orlando, not confirmed as a USMNT player

Balogun is on vacation, the international decision might take him a minute

Is Folarin Balogun going to suit up for the U.S. men’s national team?

The question remains open, but of late has heated up significantly. USMNT Twitter flew into an uproar on Wednesday after Balogun posted photos of himself in Orlando, though it wasn’t entirely clear when the photos were taken or why he posted those photos.

Coming on the heels of a cryptic Balogun Instagram post last week after he was not called up by England, and interim USMNT coach Anthony Hudson admitting the federation was “in open dialogue” with the 21-year-old, things were bound to ramp up further. Fans wanting the Reims marksman to commit to the USMNT, as opposed to his options with the Three Lions or Nigeria, filled the rest of the information in with assumptions that he’s already made up his mind.

Things reached a fever pitch when the Orlando Magic confirmed Balogun was in town on Thursday, sharing photos of the striker with a “Balogun 9” Magic jersey ahead of their tipoff with the New York Knicks.

Speaking to reporters later on Thursday from Grenada ahead of the USMNT’s Nations League match against the Spice Boys, Hudson cautioned that no commitments had been made, and in fact nothing much else has happened.

“He’s out here having a little bit of a break, and some training, and we’ve had some discussions. Now it’s about him just enjoying the rest of his trip,” said Hudson. “I think it’s good because it’s been an opportunity for us just to share about our program and who we are, and what we do. And again, hope we get the chance to speak with him again. It’s been good to me, and I know a few of the guys have spoken to him as well.”

Christian Pulisic, who Hudson said will captain the team with Tyler Adams (hamstring) unavailable in this window, backed that up, but said that he wasn’t on the list of people blowing up Balogun’s phone.

“I haven’t really spoken to him personally,” said Pulisic. “I know some of the guys that know him from previous teams or whatever have reached out to him and spoken to him. From our side, we’d love to have him.”

Balogun Watch will continue with breathless updates, whether he’s announcing which national team he’ll be scoring goals for or just checking out the sights at Epcot Center.

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Zack Steffen says he’s not going back to Man City

The USMNT goalkeeper has a contract at the Etihad through 2025

Zack Steffen’s time at Manchester City appears to be over.

Or at least that’s what the U.S. men’s national team goalkeeper says is his hope, as he continues to start for Middlesbrough on a season-long loan from the Premier League champions.

After surprisingly being left off the USMNT roster for the World Cup, Steffen is back with the national team for its two CONCACAF Nations League matches this month.

Steffen’s form with Boro, currently third in the Championship table as it chases promotion to the top flight, has helped propel him back to the USMNT after one of the biggest disappointments of his career.

And speaking to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the 27-year-old has said he isn’t prepared to return to City and be a backup again.

“I don’t think I’ll go back,” Steffen said. “No, I want to be playing. Although I had a great time at City and I love those guys, and obviously an amazing club, I don’t really have any plans to go back.”

How Steffen would engineer an exit from City is yet to be determined. His loan at Boro goes through the end of the season, at which point he is scheduled to return to City. His contract at the Etihad runs through 2025.

Steffen originally joined City from the Columbus Crew in 2019, before going out on loan to Fortuna DĂĽsseldorf for the 2019-20 season. After starting for the then-Bundesliga club, Steffen returned to City where he served as Ederson’s backup for two seasons.

Stefen has earned 29 caps for the USMNT after making his debut in 2018.

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This is not a drill: Folarin Balogun is (probably) in Orlando

Balogun to the USMNT confirmed? Not so fast!

Folarin Balogun playing for the U.S. men’s national team just became quite a bit more plausible.

Either that, or he really wants to visit Disney World.

That’s because the in-demand striker has been spotted in Orlando — the city where, as it happens, the USMNT is stationed right now ahead of its upcoming CONCACAF Nations League matches.

After posting his annoyance about not getting called into England’s senior national team (or maybe about something else entirely), Balogun was called up by England’s U-21 side, only to withdraw on Tuesday with what the FA said was an injury.

The next day, the striker posted a couple pictures of himself and an unidentified man on Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CqGb27cOMLy/?hl=en

No big deal, right? But wait, what does that wall behind them say?

“Here to chase tail.” That sure looks like the wall of a bar called Pups Pub in, yes, Orlando!

If there were any lingering doubt as to Balogun’s locale in the photos, the building behind him in the first picture is also very much located in Orlando.

So Balogun to USMNT confirmed? Well, not so fast.

First off, there is no confirmation the pictures are necessarily from the past 24 hours. Balogun was actually in Orlando with Arsenal last summer when the club played in the preseason Florida Cup against Chelsea.

Shortly after, Balogun joined Reims on loan, where he’s scored 17 goals to put himself among Ligue 1’s top scorers this season.

If the pictures are recent, there is also a chance that Balogun is visiting the USMNT not as a commit but as a recruit, looking to get a feel for the team and atmosphere before making a final decision on his international future.

Or he just wants to ride Space Mountain.

On Wednesday, Matt Turner was asked about Balogun after the USMNT goalkeeper and the striker were teammates during Arsenal’s preseason.

“I knew going into [preseason] that he had some roots in the U.S.,” Turner said of the New York-born forward. “So him and I developed a relationship pretty quickly.

“We check in on each other here and there. He’d be a great addition to our national team. He’s done really well for his club on loan and we’ll see — the decision has to come from the heart.

“It’s not necessarily an easy task always to come and play in these CONCACAF games. And it’s a tough region at times. So for us, we’d be really grateful to have him but his heart needs to be in it.”

In any event, we have reached out to U.S. Soccer for comment, and will update this post with any response.

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Gregg Berhalter has two more backers: Antonee Robinson and Matt Turner

After Christian Pulisic, two more USMNT players are offering support to their former coach

Two more U.S. national team World Cup starters have offered their support to Gregg Berhalter, with Antonee Robinson and Matt Turner agreeing with Christian Pulisic’s assessment of the coach’s “extremely unfortunate” situation.

Berhalter coached the USMNT to the round of 16 at the World Cup before his contract expired at the end of 2022. In the meantime, a scandal around his personal life has exploded into public view.

Irked by Berhalter’s treatment of their son Gio, the coach’s close friends Claudio and Danielle Reyna revealed a 1992 domestic violence incident involving Berhalter and his future wife to U.S. Soccer officials.

Pulisic hit out at the Reynas’ “childish” behavior in an interview with ESPN last week, lamenting the position they had put the coach and his family in.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Robinson praised the work Berhalter did with the USMNT while echoing Pulisic’s words about the difficult position into which he’d been placed.

“I think he did a very good job creating a style of play that suited a lot of the players that he brought in,” the Fulham left back said. “Getting a lot of talented players together, obviously quite young guys like Yunus [Musah] started when he was manager. And then [he got us] on the same page, bringing us to the World Cup where we didn’t do as well as we’d have liked to, but we still did I think very well in footballing performances that we’re all proud of.

“It’s situation that’s off the pitch and unfortunate having past things brought up, especially when it’s things that have been dealt with and could influence his life now. So on a personal level and a professional level, that’s unfortunate. I just hope it all gets resolved on his side really quickly and he can move on from it.”

Turner agreed, praising the culture that Berhalter created with the USMNT.

“From the outside, it’s not as clear the connection that he created amongst the group, the selections, the like-mindedness of people,” the goalkeeper said. “And it became this culture that sort of policed itself, which I think can be pretty rare when it comes to national teams getting together.

“We’re grateful for all the work that he put in and think we really did thrive during his tenure, and we’ll see what the future holds.”

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Tim Ream is happy with what he’s seeing from Gio Reyna

The USMNT is trying to put all of the controversy behind them

Tim Ream has said he’s been impressed with Gio Reyna’s attitude and work ethic in his return to the U.S. men’s national team.

Reyna’s attitude and work ethic, you may recall, was the spark that lit what has become one of the biggest scandals in American soccer history.

After being told by Gregg Berhalter that he wouldn’t have a major role in Qatar, Reyna, by his own admission, let his “emotions get the best of me and affect my training and behavior for a few days.”

Berhalter nearly sent Reyna home before the player apologized to his teammates. And that was it. Until it wasn’t.

A few months later, the first-choice roster for the USMNT is back together ahead of CONCACAF Nations League matches against Grenada and El Salvador.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Ream said that Reyna’s attitude has been exemplary so far and the USMNT is looking to move on from the controversy.

“The biggest thing is making sure that everybody knows we’re here for a reason and what’s happened with Gio in the past is in the past and what happened at the World Cup happened at the World Cup and we moved on from that as players,” Ream said.

“I think the biggest thing for us as a leadership and all the guys in camp is to see that he’s working hard, training hard, that he’s wanting to be here and up to this point, it’s been nothing but positive,” Ream added. “Having conversations with different guys, everybody knows what he can bring to the table, everybody knows how talented he is.

“And to see him come in here with that attitude and the work rate and the desire to be a part of the group and just get back on level terms with everyone without having to overly address it has been a big positive for all the guys to see.”

Ream said that he’d also spoken to Reyna individually.

“I’ve had individual conversations with him. Those will stay between him and I because I think that’s important, to have that kind of line of communication and trust between players, between teammates, between groups,” Ream said. “What he’s feeling, what he’s seeing, what his worries may be will stay between him and I, because I think that’s important to allow him to move past everything that’s happened.

“And I think it’s important for all of us to be able to move past that and work together as a good team.”

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Is Berhalter back in the mix for the USMNT? It’s complicated

U.S. Soccer will have to navigate some real thorny issues if it brings the coach back

Last week couldn’t have gone much better for Gregg Berhalter.

The now-former-and-maybe-future U.S. men’s national team head coach got quite the one-two punch of good news: First U.S. Soccer’s independent investigation found that Berhalter and his wife Rosalind were forthcoming about the details of a 1992 domestic violence incident, and there was no reason to believe any further instances had occurred.

U.S. Soccer concluded that Berhalter “remains a candidate to serve as head coach of the men’s national team.”

But there can be a big gulf between “remains a candidate” and “actually has a shot.” That gap, though, was significantly shortened after an interview Christian Pulisic gave to ESPN.

After calling the affair involving Claudio and Danielle Reyna “childish,” Pulisic was asked if he’d be comfortable with Berhalter getting his old job back.

“Yeah, no doubt, no doubt about it,” he said. “I think the strides that we’ve taken in recent years with him in charge, have been evident. I think it’s quite clear.”

Being cleared by an investigation is one thing, but seeing your normally reticent star give such a clear and public backing will give U.S. Soccer something to chew on.

But there are still quite a few steps before Berhalter gets his old job back. First and foremost, the person who will hire the new (or old) USMNT coach isn’t even in place yet.

U.S. Soccer has said interviews for its sporting director position are underway, with the hope that Earnie Stewart’s replacement is in place before the World Cup kicks off in July.

That would put U.S. Soccer right on its previously stated timeline of hiring a new USMNT coach by summer’s end. That is roughly as far from now as the USMNT’s pre-World Cup friendlies against Japan and Saudi Arabia. In other words: a while!

And much could happen in that span of time, most plausibly Berhalter being offered a different job.

Berhalter’s resume could make him intriguing to clubs in Europe: a lengthy playing career in the Netherlands and Germany as well as experience coaching in Europe with Hammarby. He would also, of course, be an appealing candidate for an ambitious MLS club.

As Berhalter himself said: “There are options.”

Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images

Assuming Berhalter isn’t spoken for by the time U.S. Soccer actually gets around to choosing a coach, there are still potential pitfalls to a theoretical reappointment.

One: Do any core players have lingering problems with Berhalter’s now-infamous HOW Institute speech?

Pulisic seems to be fine with it but others, most notably ex-USMNT star DaMarcus Beasley, have pointed to that speech as the moment Berhalter lost the locker room.

Beasley, of course, isn’t in that locker room anymore, but he may talk to people that are. In any case, U.S. Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone said this weekend that USMNT players will be consulted on the hire. One wonders if Gio Reyna would be one of them.

The second issue is even more substantial, and will demand serious introspection from all parties. Yes, it’s about that 1992 incident.

U.S. Soccer’s independent investigation “cleared” Berhalter as much as it could have, but it’s hard to really declare victory when the underlying issue involves a confirmed case of domestic violence.

Should Berhalter emerge as a serious candidate by the summer, U.S. Soccer will have to ask itself an extremely thorny question: Does it want the leader of its national team on the biggest stage possible, a home World Cup, to have anything but a spotless record?

Yes, it was a drunken argument between teenagers, and Berhalter’s behavior since that moment appears to have been exemplary. But: it happened.

Excluding Berhalter on the basis of that moment feels unsettling, in part because it would give Claudio and Danielle Reyna what they wanted. But it would be pretty much the definition of Pyrrhic victory.

Berhalter certainly has options now. But, despite his very good week, there is a long way before coaching the USMNT again is one of them.

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Zendejas denies Mexico ‘extortion’ claims over World Cup spot

There were some serious accusations thrown at Zendejas last fall

Alex Zendejas has denied accusations he demanded a spot at the 2022 World Cup in exchange for committing to Mexico.

Zendejas played for the U.S. at the youth international levels before switching to Mexico to play in senior national team friendlies in October 2021 and April 2022.

But as it turned out, the Club América winger had not filed the one-time switch that would have been required to represent Mexico in those two matches, which FIFA eventually ruled had to be forfeited.

After playing two games for Mexico, Zendejas was a candidate to make El Tri’s World Cup roster. But that’s when things got really strange.

Mexico’s coach at the time, Tata Martino, accused Zendejas of “extortion,” saying the winger demanded a spot in Qatar in exchange for filing a one-time switch.

On Monday, after confirming his commitment to the USMNT over Mexico, Zendejas finally had the chance to respond to those charges.

“I don’t think anyone can be in a position for someone to secure something to you, we have to work on that daily and prove to people that we deserve the opportunity,” Zendejas told reporters on a conference call.

“It was a bunch of chaos that happened over there. People saying stuff that wasn’t true, people saying that stuff that was true, but at the end of the day, I just try not to focus on that.”

The 25-year-old also spoke about his decision to select the USMNT over Mexico, saying he’d spoken to his family constantly and that his experience in January camp with the U.S. ultimately solidified his choice.

“I came in January and I felt very at ease, I saw old teammates. … For the long term my goal is to play at a World Cup and for that reason I chose the United States.”

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Mihailovic replaces injured Weah on USMNT roster

The 24-year-old AZ midfielder will be looking for his first cap in more than two years

AZ midfielder Djordje Mihailovic has been added to the U.S. men’s national team roster for its upcoming CONCACAF Nations League matches, replacing the injured Tim Weah.

Weah is in concussion return to play protocol after he suffered a head injury in Lille’s 2-0 win over Toulouse on Saturday.

Mihailovic, who has six USMNT caps, will be aiming for his first national team appearance since December 2020. The midfielder’s chances of making the World Cup squad were damaged when, in the midst of an excellent start to the 2022 season with CF MontrĂ©al, he suffered an ankle injury that forced him off the team’s June roster.

Mihailovic has made 10 appearances for Dutch side AZ after joining from Montréal in January, tallying one goal and one assist.

The USMNT will travel to face Grenada on Friday (8:00 p.m. ET on TNT, Universo and Peacock), which will be followed by a game against El Salvador on March 27 at Exploria Stadium in Orlando (7:30 p.m. ET on TNT, Universo and Peacock).

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The Americans Abroad Five: How long can Matt Turner wait at Arsenal?

The USMNT’s starting goalkeeper is going to have big decisions to make this offseason

Matt Turner is going to have some big decisions to make this offseason.

When Turner got the chance to join Arsenal last summer, nobody could fault him for saying yes. It was, in some ways, the culmination of an incredible rags-to-riches tale that would’ve been difficult to make up.

But in other, highly important ways, it was very much not the culmination. Turner was making the leap to Europe relatively late at age 28, but he had every reason to believe he could enjoy a long and fruitful career abroad.

But will that ever happen at Arsenal?

Turner was always facing an uphill battle for consistent minutes with the Gunners, and the 2022-23 season has done little to dispel that notion. Aaron Ramsdale is firmly entrenched as the starter and Arsenal is the favorite to win the Premier League right now.

With all of his USMNT competitors playing every week, it is worth considering how long Turner can afford to be a backup — especially when it seems pretty clear he could start for more than a few clubs in top-five European leagues.

Turner has previously spoken of how much he’s grown in north London from training alone, but there is a limit to that particular benefit.

This week’s Five leads with a troubling week for Turner, who looks to have played his last game this season.

Let’s all lose our minds about Folarin Balogun’s Instagram post

It’s official: Balogun is definitely, 100 percent picking the USMNT. No doubt

If you are a fan of reading way too much into social media posts, Folarin Balogun provided some fantastic content on Thursday.

The in-demand striker’s cryptic Instagram post led to speculation that he’d perhaps turned his back on England and was ready to reconsider playing for the U.S. national team.

Balogun, who is enjoying a standout season with Reims while on loan from Arsenal, was left off Gareth Southgate’s England squad on Thursday.

Immediately after the snub, the 21-year-old posted on Instagram: “In life, go where your [sic] appreciated.”

The post came one day after interim USMNT coach Anthony Hudson said “there is open dialogue with [Balogun] and his team,” as the American federation looks to recruit a player who looks like a game-changer.

New York-born Balogun has most recently been with England’s youth setup, and is also eligible to represent Nigeria.

Was the post confirmation he was ready to commit to the USMNT? Was he merely lashing out? Was he even talking about soccer? Who knows! But let’s check the reaction anyway.