The USMNT World Cup roster has its strongest Philly accent in over 90 years

NEW YORK — Though it was no surprise to see many players from the Philadelphia area on the U.S. men’s World Cup team, Tuesday’s announcement of the squad still marked a moment of local history.

Four players from the region made the cut, the highest number since 1934. They are attacking midfielder Brenden Aaronson of Medford, Burlington County; centerbacks Auston Trusty of Media, Delaware County, and Mark McKenzie of Bear, Del.; and goalkeeper Matt Freese of Wayne, Delaware County.

Along with their local roots, they all grew up playing in the Union’s youth academy and made pro debuts in Chester before moving on to other stages.

That 1934 team, for the second World Cup ever, had four local natives and a German expat who played in Philadelphia. And if that expat makes an honorary five, then Hershey-born superstar Christian Pulisic can be this year’s honorary fifth.

The previous high mark in the modern era of American men’s soccer, starting with the 1990 World Cup, was three in 2006.

So before getting to the questions about Mauricio Pochettino’s squad — and there are some big ones to ask — it’s fair for the Philly region to take a moment to celebrate.

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Aaronson is going to his second straight World Cup, enhancing his status as the region’s flag-bearer on the world stage. The 25-year-old with England’s Leeds United is one of only four Americans who play regularly in the Premier League, the world’s best circuit.

“It feels amazing,” he said after a national TV show introduced the team to the nation. “Getting that text message and the video to know that I’m going was definitely one of the proudest moments of my career.

McKenzie, 27, is going to his first World Cup. Four years ago, he was one of the last players to miss the 2022 squad. Since then, he has cemented places as a U.S. regular and stalwart of French top-flight club Toulouse.

“It shows me that this last four years was for a reason,” he said. “It was heartbreaking, obviously, not making it to ‘22, but I rolled up my sleeves and I said that next time around, I would make sure that I controlled everything I could control. And there wasn’t anything left up to doubt.”

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Trusty, also 27, used to partner with McKenzie on the Union’s back line.

He came up the Union’s ranks with lots of hype, but took a long road through the game that didn’t reach a marquee level until relatively recently. Now he is there, winning trophies with Scotland’s Celtic and seizing a chance in recent monthsto return to the national team.

Freese has the most remarkable story of the quartet. He grew up in the Union’s academy, went to Harvard for two years, then left to turn pro in Chester. But he wasn’t going to overtake Andre Blake, so he made a move north to New York City FC and grinded his way to becoming the starter.

The national team was out of sight until last summer, when Pochettino invited him to a Gold Cup squad full of MLS players challenging incumbent stars. Matt Turner’s form in net had fallen off, so Freese got a shot and seized it. He played the entire Gold Cup, and seven of the eight friendlies since then.

Pulisic, with Italian Serie A club AC Milan, is the biggest name of all, and has long been. His talents and success have made him the most-recognized American men’s soccer player of all time. Though he and his family moved to Florida a few years ago, he hasn’t forgotten his Pennsylvania roots.

For many months, it was hard to guess Pochettino’s intentions. He trialed some 70 players from a range of backgrounds and rarely gave major signs of which way he’d go in the end.

The climax was meant to come at Tuesday’s show, with fans in attendance. But the drama of that moment was sapped in advance when the Guardian published the roster on Saturday.

It did not sap the controversy of Pochettino’s choices, though, at one position in particular. The 26-player squad is notably short on central and defensive midfielders, with only four picked and Tyler Adams the sole true ballhawk among them.

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Sebastian Berhalter, Cristian Roldan, and Weston McKennie are the other three, and Roldan is the only one who’s a defense-first player. McKennie has played more as an attacking midfielder lately, backed up by Pochettino saying last fall that he “needs freedom.”

We’ll see if he will now play deeper — in particular a central spot next to Adams if Pochettino goes with the 3-4-2-1 formation that has worked well. The choice of five centerbacks for this squad, plus some outside backs who can play central roles, hints that may happen.

Two midfielders who have the defensive pedigree, Tanner Tessmann and Aidan Morris, were not picked. Tessmann was the biggest surprise omission, even though he has been sidelined for a few weeks with a minor muscle strain. That was not expected to keep him out of the World Cup.

Morris had a strong season with Middlesbrough of England’s second-tier Championship and came up one game short of promotion to the Premier League. But he never seemed to fully earn Pochettino’s affection.

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“I think we cannot talk about the players that are not in the roster, because it’s very disrespectful to the players that made the roster,” Pochettino said when asked about Tessmann in particular. “It’s impossible to be fair with everyone, but I think we made the best decision to be competitive. … If it’s not one, it’s another."

He also said his final decisions came down to “the day before [setting] the roster,” which was last Friday.

“I know how painful it was, so painful for me to make the decision, but that is my job,” he said, recalling his own coming up short of Argentina’s 1994 and 1998 World Cup squads before making it in 2002.

Asked which players could suit up next to Adams or stand in for him, Pochettino ran off a long and at times surprising list: Roldan, Berhalter, McKennie, Malik Tillman, Gio Reyna, Sergiño Dest, Alex Freeman, and Antonee Robinson.

This all raises the pressure on Adams to not just play well, but avoid getting too many yellow cards. Though FIFA has loosened the rules on suspensions for card accumulation, bookings in each of the first two group games still earn a benching from the third. In the U.S.’ case, the finale against Turkey will be the hardest matchup.

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The biggest surprise inclusion is attacking midfielder Alejandro Zendejas. He hasn’t been on a U.S. squad since September, and his absences since then drew lots of questions. Pochettino answered by saying that he knew Zendejas’ talent and that the door wasn’t closed. Now he has backed that up.

Zendejas and Reyna were chosen over Diego Luna, a fan favorite for his skill and grit. But Luna was a challenger to Reyna when the latter hadn’t earned his place. Once that changed — including at Subaru Park in November — Luna’s odds fell, despite his good form with Real Salt Lake this year.

Former Union midfielder Jack McGlynn, now with the Houston Dynamo, and Luna’s Salt Lake teammate Zavier Gozo were also among the challengers who didn’t make the cut.

The squad doesn’t officially have to be set until FIFA’s deadline on June 1. The Americans will play the first of their two pre-World Cup warmup games before then, on Sunday against Senegal at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium (3:30 p.m., TNT, Telemundo 62).

The second game is against Germany in Chicago on June 6, at a sold-out Soldier Field (2:30 p.m., TNT, Telemundo 62). The team will fly from there to its World Cup base camp in Irvine, Calif.

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Between now and then, practices will be at U.S. Soccer’s new national training center outside Atlanta, starting Wednesday.

If any injuries happen between June 1 and the start of the tournament, FIFA allows for replacements up to 24 hours before a team’s first game. For the U.S., that is June 12 against Paraguay in Inglewood, Calif.

Players are listed by position, then in order of jersey number. Those with local ties are in bold.

Goalkeepers (3): 1. Matt Turner (New England Revolution), 24. Matt Freese (New York City FC), 25. Chris Brady (Chicago Fire)

Defenders (10): 2. Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), 3. Chris Richards (Crystal Palace, England), 5. Antonee Robinson (Fulham, England), 6. Auston Trusty (Celtic, Scotland), 12. Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati), 13. Tim Ream (Charlotte FC), 16. Alex Freeman (Villarreal, Spain), 18. Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew), 22. Mark McKenzie (Toulouse, France), 23. Joe Scally (Borussia Möchengladbach, Germany)

Midfielders (6): 4. Tyler Adams (Bournemouth, England), 7. Gio Reyna (Borussia Mönchengladbach, Germany), 8. Weston McKennie (Juventus, Italy), 14. Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps), 15. Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders), 17. Malik Tillman (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany)

Forwards (7): 9. Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), 10. Christian Pulisic (AC Milan, Italy), 11. Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United, England), 19. Haji Wright (Coventry City, England) 20. Folarin Balogun (AS Monaco, France), 21. Tim Weah (Olympique Marseille, France), 26. Alejandro Zendejas (Club América, Mexico)

Sunday: Friendly vs. Senegal in Charlotte, N.C. (3:30 p.m., TNT, truTV, Telemundo 62, Universo, HBO Max, Peacock)

June 6: Friendly vs. Germany in Chicago (2:30 p.m., TNT, truTV, Telemundo 62, Universo, HBO Max, Peacock)

June 12: World Cup group stage opener vs. Paraguay in Inglewood, Calif. (9 p.m., Fox29, Telemundo 62, Peacock)

June 19: World Cup group stage second game vs. Australia in Seattle (3 p.m., Fox29, Telemundo 62, Peacock)

June 25: World Cup group stage finale vs. Turkey in Inglewood, Calif. (10 p.m., Fox29, Telemundo 62, Peacock)

The World Cup in Philly

Nine nations will compete in five group stage matches this summer, plus two more in a knockout game on July 4. Here’s what you need to know about those countries — and what those fans need to know about Philly. Click here for more.