Gio Reyna, Zack Steffen return to USMNT for this month’s Concacaf Nations League games

Update: On March 19, Djordje Mihailovic replaced Tim Weah on the roster after Weah suffered a concussion in a game with his club.

The U.S. men’s soccer team will take a big step toward closing the Reyna-Berhalter scandal when Gio Reyna returns to the squad for this month’s Concacaf Nations League games.

Reyna headlines a 24-player squad that will play in the final games of the group stage, March 24 at Grenada and March 27 at home vs. El Salvador in Orlando.

“We had the issue at the World Cup that we dealt with internally, we dealt with as a group,” interim U.S. manager Anthony Hudson said in a news conference after the roster was announced. “There was a really positive response from Gio after that, and then the World Cup ended. And beyond that, it became a very, very complex situation that, looking at it, we see separate from Gio, even though he’s impacted by it.”

Hudson traveled to Germany to meet with Reyna last month. He said Wednesday that “we had a good meeting, and then we’ve spoken a few times since,” including this week.

“He’s in a good place,” Hudson said. “He’s determined to come back in and do well and help the team … I never felt any resistance [in him] to coming back.”

Reyna isn’t the only big player returning to the team. Downingtown’s Zack Steffen is among the goalkeepers after controversially not making the World Cup roster last fall.

» READ MORE: A timeline of the Reyna-Berhalter scandal that rocked U.S. soccer

The sense at the time was that since Matt Turner was going to be the starter, it didn’t make sense to take Steffen as a backup. But Turner has played for English Premier League club Arsenal just once in the last month and a half. Steffen is a locked-in starter for English second-tier club Middlesbrough, as he aimed for when he went there on loan from the Premier League’s Manchester City last summer.

Middlesbrough has lost just four of 21 games since the start of last November, and is in third place in the standings.

“Without going into the past,” Hudson said, “he’s had a really, really good season so far with Middlesbrough, he’s playing very well, and it appears that he’s really enjoying playing as well. … The fact that he’s coming back in is a good thing for the group. And I know he’s looking forward to coming in.”

The local news also includes Media’s Auston Trusty, whose strong play for English second-tier club Birmingham City earned him his first senior U.S. call-up since January of last year. Hudson and assistant coach B.J. Callaghan — a former Union assistant who coached Trusty here — have both watched the 24-year-old centerback in person this season, and met with him.

“Not only is he playing well and putting in really, really solid performances, but [there are] some things you don’t always see on the broadcast,” Hudson said. “I was really pleasantly surprised. He visibly looks like a leader on the field — he’s organizing the back four, he’s organizing the winger in front of him, and he’s very, very vocal with players around him. Players respect him, responded in the right way.”

Hudson heard from Birmingham staff, too: “everyone from the sporting director to the tea lady [British slang for a concession staffer], everyone in the club, came up to me and absolutely loved Auston.”

» READ MORE: Philly-bred USMNT assistant coach B.J. Callaghan helps navigate a time of uncertainty

Bear, Del.’s Mark McKenzie also is back, thanks to his fine season with Belgium’s Genk. And Medford’s Brenden Aaronson and Hershey’s Christian Pulisic are among 11 players from the World Cup squad on this roster.

That makes five players with Philly-area ties on the squad — and they all have ties to the Union, too. We’ll see if the quintet introduce their teammates to the many Wawas in the Orlando area.

Other notable names called up include striker Daryl Dike, who missed his World Cup shot because of injury; striker Ricardo Pepi, also among the controversial World Cup roster omissions; winger Alejandro Zendejas, newly committed to the U.S. over Mexico; and Taylor Booth, a 21-year-old winger prospect who’s playing well for Dutch first-division club Utrecht. Atlanta United’s Miles Robinson is the only MLS player on the squad, and he’ll be warmly welcomed after missing his World Cup shot because of a brutal Achilles tendon injury last May.

The biggest absence is captain and midfield star Tyler Adams. His Premier League club, Leeds United, announced that he suffered a hamstring injury this week, and U.S. Soccer agreed to not bring him over.

Players will begin reporting Sunday to training camp in Orlando. The U.S. should win both games, but there’s a little jeopardy on the table because El Salvador held the Americans to a 1-1 tie last August in San Salvador. Winning the group will qualify the U.S. for the Nations League final four in May; finishing first or second will qualify it for the Gold Cup that runs from July 24-Aug. 16.

» READ MORE: Alejandro Zendejas chooses the USMNT over Mexico for his international future

Goalkeepers (3): Ethan Horvath (Luton Town, England), Zack Steffen (Middlesbrough, England), Matt Turner (Arsenal, England)

Defenders (8): Sergiño Dest (AC Milan, Italy), Mark McKenzie (Genk, Belgium), Tim Ream (Fulham, England), Bryan Reynolds (Westerlo, Belgium), Antonee Robinson (Fulham, England), Miles Robinson (Atlanta United), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach, Germany), Auston Trusty (Birmingham City, England)

Midfielders (6): Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United, England), Johnny Cardoso (Internacional, Brazil), Luca de la Torre (Celta de Vigo, Spain), Weston McKennie (Leeds United, England), Djordje Mihailovic (AZ Alkmaar, Netherlands), Yunus Musah (Valencia, Spain), Alan Soñora (Juárez, Mexico)

Forwards (7): Taylor Booth (Utrecht, Netherlands), Daryl Dike (West Bromwich Albion, England), Ricardo Pepi (Groningen, Netherlands), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea, England), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund, Germany), Alex Zendejas (Club América, Mexico)

Withdrawn due to injury: F Tim Weah (Lille, France)

Friday, March 24: at Grenada, 8 p.m. (Universo, HBO Max, Peacock)

Monday, March 27: vs. El Salvador at Exploria Stadium, Orlando, 7:30 p.m. (TNT, Universo, HBO Max, Peacock)

» READ MORE: Zack Steffen has a goal beyond success on the field: To give back