Union's Bedoya, Pontius, Sapong on U.S. Gold Cup preliminary roster
Sapong's inclusion shows U.S. coach Bruce Arena wants to see if the Union's leading scorer can do it at the national team level.
Philadelphia Union midfielders Alejandro Bedoya and Chris Pontius and striker C.J. Sapong are on the 40-man preliminary roster that the United States men's national team has submitted to CONCACAF for this summer's Gold Cup.
Bedoya is a national team stalwart, so seeing his name on the list isn't surprising. Pontius got a look from Arena at a training camp back in January, and made his national team debut in an ensuing friendly against Serbia. He got his first national team start a few days after that in a friendly against Jamaica.
But Sapong's inclusion is big news. The 28-year-old has eight goals so far this season, one short of his career high for campaign. He also has three assists – including a nice one in Saturday's 2-1 loss at New York City FC.
Sapong has registered a goal or an assist in eight of his 14 appearances so far this year. Now he may earn an opportunity to show whether he can step up to the national team level.
U.S. coach Bruce Arena will pick 23 players from the pool of 40 for the tournament. His decisions must be made by June 27. The Americans' pre-tournament training camp begins June 25 in Nashville, so Arena will have a few days to survey players who won't make the cut. Once the roster is chosen, those players will travel to East Hartford, Conn., for a Gold Cup warmup game against Ghana. Then it's back to Nashville for the group stage opener against Panama on July 8.
(Click here for the full tournament schedule, which includes a quarterfinal doubleheader at Lincoln Financial Field on July 19.)
The Union have games on July 2 vs. New England and July 6 at Sporting Kansas City. After that, Major League Soccer goes dark for two weeks during the tournament. New England's Juan Agudelo and Kelyn Rowe are on the U.S. preliminary squad, as are Kansas City's Matt Besler, Dom Dwyer and Graham Zusi.
As for the rest of the roster, plenty of eyes will be on Christian Pulisic, and rightly so. The Hershey native is the biggest name in the American game right now, and scored his fifth national team goal Saturday night.
But a name to watch is FC Dallas goalkeeper Jesse González. The 22-year-old has played for Mexico's Under-20 and Under-23 teams, but is still eligible to play for the United States – and he's been torn for some time over which way to go.
Earlier this week, USA Today reported that González was going to commit to Mexico. That made his inclusion on the U.S. list quite a surprise. But late Saturday night, Fox Sports' Stu Holden reported that González was ready and willing to commit to the United States.
(Holden broke the news while in the broadcast booth for Fox's coverage of the U.S.-Venezuela game. The 40-man list was announced at halftime.)
A few hours later, Holden offered this:
It looks like the tug-of-war is going to continue, but it also seems that there's going to be a resolution pretty soon.
This much is certain: If González does go to the Gold Cup and plays for the U.S., he'll be tied to this country for good.
Other notable names on the 40-man list were defenders Matt Miazga of Chelsea and Eric Lichaj of Nottingham Forest, and Gent midfielder Kenny Saief. He was born in Panama City, Florida and has played for Israel's youth national teams, but has wanted to play for the U.S. for some time. Saief also would become tied to the U.S. if he plays in the Gold Cup.
Here's the full list of players:
Goalkeepers (6): Joe Bendik (Orlando City), Jesse Gonzalez (FC Dallas), Brad Guzan (Atlanta United), Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Tim Howard (Colorado Rapids), Sean Johnson (New York City FC)
Defenders (12): Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Steve Birnbaum (D.C. United), Greg Garza (Atlanta United), Omar González (Pachuca/Mexico), Matt Hedges (FC Dallas), Eric Lichaj (Nottingham Forest/England), Matt Miazga (Chelsea/England), Justin Morrow (Toronto FC), Matt Polster (Chicago Fire), Jonathan Spector (Orlando City), Jorge Villafaña (Santos Laguna/Mexico), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
Midfielders (15): Paul Arriola (Club Tijuana/Mexico), Alejandro Bedoya (Philadelphia Union), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana/Mexico), Dax McCarty (Chicago Fire), Tommy McNamara (New York City FC), Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers), Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas), Chris Pontius (Philadelphia Union), Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund/Germany), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders), Kelyn Rowe (New England Revolution), Kenny Saief (Gent/Belgium), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew), Gyasi Zardes (Los Angeles Galaxy)
Forwards (7): Juan Agudelo (New England Revolution), Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders), Dom Dwyer (Sporting Kansas City), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders), C.J. Sapong (Philadelphia Union), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)
Several players with the national team for this month's World Cup qualifiers were omitted: goalkeepers Ethan Horvath and Nick Rimando; defenders DaMarcus Beasley, John Brooks, Geoff Cameron, Tim Ream and DeAndre Yedlin; midfielders Kellyn Acosta and Fabian Johnson; and forward Bobby Wood. Many of them will be getting ready for preseasons with European clubs.
Other notable omissions include New York Red Bulls playmaker Sacha Kljestan, who seemed to have established a regular presence with the national team in recent months; and Minnesota United striker Christian Ramirez, who has shown an impressive knack for finding the net in the Loons' inaugural MLS season.
This article includes information from the Associated Press.