Pepi, Steffen left off US World Cup roster, Ream, Wright on
NEW YORK — The U.S. World Cup team is truly of the video generation. Players who received a FaceTime from coach Gregg Berhalter were headed to Qatar and those given audio calls missed the cut.
“I think the best part of it the last couple of days was really seeing genuine smiles from the guys when I told them, and that’s priceless,” Berhalter said Wednesday night after the televised announcement of his 26-man roster.
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Tim Ream, Haji Wright, Joe Scally and Sean Johnson made it.
Ricardo Pepi, Zack Steffen, Paul Arriola and Jordan Pefok fell short.
Norwich’s Josh Sargent and Antalyspor’s Wright beat out Pepi, the 19-year-old whose three goals in qualifying were second behind Christian Pulisic’s five. Berhalter rated Sargent playing in England’s second-tier League Championship higher than Pepi in the Dutch Eredivisie, especially with the U.S. opening the tournament against Wales on Nov. 21 and facing England four days later before finishing against Iran on Nov. 29.
“The Dutch League is a great league, but it doesn’t bring the same physicality that the Premier League brings and the Championship brings,” Berhalter said. “Ricardo Pepi could have a great argument for why he should be there, and I can understand that argument.”
Players started getting texts from Berhalter on Sunday afternoon: “Are you available?” He spent three days going through the roster, then turned to just over a dozen dealt the devastation of falling short.
On what figures to be the youngest of the 32 teams by average age, 29-year-old right back DeAndre Yedlin is the only holdover from the 2014 World Cup. Yedlin, Pulisic, Kellyn Acosta and Ream are remaining players from the infamous loss at Trinidad that prevented the Americans from reaching the 2018 tournament.
“This could be a little bit of a redemption or revenge tour if you want to call it that,” Yedlin said. “This is now our time to really — I don’t want to say apologize for that, but show how much we do want it.”
With central defenders Miles Robinson and Chris Richards sidelined by injuries, the 35-year-old Ream returns to the national team for the first time since the opening round of qualifying in September 2021. Ream didn’t play in the final four qualifying windows as Berhalter preferred more mobile options, then was selected over Mark McKenzie and Erik-Palmer Brown.
“He’s playing in the best league in the world and he’s playing at a very high level,” Berhalter said.
Cameron Carter-Vickers, a son of former NBA player Howard Carter, also was picked as a central defender. Carter-Vickers, Johnson, goalkeeper Ethan Horvath, Scally and Wright did not appear in any of the 14 qualifiers.
Shaq Moore was picked as a backup right back over Reggie Cannon and Cristian Roldan ahead of Malik Tillman in midfield, where Berhalter called Arriola “the odd man out.”
“These past few days have been extremely difficult. Some of the hardest I’ve had in a while,” Arriola wrote on Twitter. “I am heartbroken.”
Johnson, 33, was a surprise pick over Steffen, who started six qualifiers. He was sitting on a sofa at his home in Hoboken, New Jersey.
“I wasn’t going to move very far away from my phone, just waiting for the call,” Johnson said. “The first thing he said, I think, was, ‘Why are you still wearing the same shirt from (training) camp. Then we talked about yoga and doing yoga that morning. Yeah, I was sweating a little bit. But ultimately we got to that point in the conversation and the weight was just lifted and it was just pure elation.”
Nine players are from Major League Soccer; eight are with English clubs; two each are based in Germany, Italy and Spain; and one apiece plays in France, Scotland and Turkey.
Scally and midfielder Yunus Musah are just 19. Winger Gio Reyna, a son of former U.S, captain Claudio Reyna, turns 20 on Sunday. The average age of 25 years, 175 days as of the opener is the second-youngest for the U.S. at a World Cup behind 24 years, 24 days in 1990.
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Goalkeepers: Ethan Horvath (Luton, England), Sean Johnson (New York City), Matt Turner (Arsenal, England).
Defenders: Cameron Carter-Vickers (Glasgow Celtic, Scotland), Sergiño Dest (AC Milan, Italy), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls), Shaq Moore (Nashville), Tim Ream (Fulham, England), Antonee Robinson (Fulham, England), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach, Germany), DeAndre Yedlin (Miami), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville).
Midfielders: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds, England), Kellyn Acosta (Los Angeles), Tyler Adams (Leeds, England), Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo, Spain), Weston McKennie (Juventus, Italy), Yunus Musah (Valencia, Spain), Cristian Roldan (Seattle).
Forwards: Jesús Ferreira (Dallas), Jordan Morris (Seattle), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea, England), Gio Reyna (Borussia, Dortmund, Germany), Josh Sargent (Norwich, England), Tim Weah (Lille, France), Haji Wright (Antalyspor, Turkey).
