Mauricio Pochettino has brought back goalkeeper Zack Steffen, who was dropped under Gregg Berhalter, in his first roster as the new US men’s national team manager.
Midfielder Gianluca Busio was the other notable addition to the 25-man roster announced on Wednesday for friendlies against Panama on 12 October at Austin, Texas, and Mexico three days later at Guadalajara.
Defenders Antonee Robinson and Miles Robinson and midfielder Weston McKennie were added after being given the September games off to remain with their clubs Goalkeeper Diego Kochen and defender Caleb Wiley were dropped.
Injured players who will miss the matches include defenders Sergiño Dest, Chris Richards and Cameron Carter-Vickers, and midfielder Tyler Adams.
Pochettino was hired on 10 September and becomes the 10th US men’s coach in 14 years and the team’s first foreign-born manager since Jürgen Klinsmann, who was in charge from 2011 through 2016.
Steffen started six of 14 World Cup qualifiers, with Matt Turner in goal for the other eight. Steffen was surprisingly omitted from the 2022 World Cup roster and hasn’t played for the national team since the final qualifiers in March 2022, though he was on the bench for Concacaf Nations League matches in March 2023.
The 29-year-old Steffen has 29 international appearances and started all 31 Major League Soccer games for Colorado this season after playing in just two Premier League matches over four and a half seasons during his contract with Manchester City. Turner lost his starting job at Nottingham Forest last season, was loaned to Crystal Palace in August and has not played this season. Ethan Horvath, who is also on the roster, has not played for Cardiff since 31 August.
Busio, 22, helped Venezia gain promotion to Serie A this season and played for the US at the Paris Olympics. He played for the US at the 2021 and 2023 Concacaf Gold Cups, when a largely second-string roster was used.
USMNT roster to face Panama and Mexico
Goalkeepers Ethan Horvath (Cardiff), Patrick Schulte (Columbus), Zack Steffen (Colorado), Matt Turner (Crystal Palace)
Defenders Marlon Fossey (Standard Liege), Kristoffer Lund (Palermo), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse), Tim Ream (Charlotte), Antonee Robinson (Fulham), Miles Robinson (Cincinnati), Joe Scally (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Auston Trusty (Celtic)
Midfielders Brenden Aaronson (Leeds), Gianluca Busio (Venezia), Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis), Weston McKennie (Juventus) Aidan Morris (Middlesbrough), Yunus Musah (AC Milan), Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven)
Forwards Folarin Balogun (Monaco), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan), Josh Sargent (Norwich), Timothy Weah (Juventus), Haji Wright (Coventry)
