American Up for LaLiga Young Player of the Year 🇪🇸

Camp Copa Roster Drop:

With the European season winding down for our American Lads Abroad, attention has begun to shift to the USMNT’s sternest and most important pre-World Cup test: the 2024 Copa America. 

As the United States’ tournament-opening match against Bolivia is just a month away, Gregg Berhalter released his 27-player training camp roster on Monday, which will then be cut to a final roster between 23-26 players.

The camp roster features just four MLS players, with the other 23 all playing for European clubs. Here is the full list of call-ups (with club, caps and goals in parentheses):

GOALKEEPERS (3): Ethan Horvath (Cardiff City; 9/0), Sean Johnson (Toronto FC; 13/0), Matt Turner (Nottingham Forest; 39/0)

DEFENDERS (9): Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic; 16/0), Kristoffer Lund (Palermo; 3/0), Mark McKenzie (Genk; 13/0), Shaq Moore (Nashville SC; 18/1), Tim Ream (Fulham; 56/1), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace; 16/1), Antonee Robinson (Fulham; 41/4), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati; 29/3), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach; 9/0)

MIDFIELDERS (8): Tyler Adams (Bournemouth; 38/2), Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis; 11/0), Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo; 20/0), Weston McKennie (Juventus; 51/11), Yunus Musah (AC Milan; 35/0), Gio Reyna (Nottingham Forest; 26/8), Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven; 10/0), Timmy Tillman (LAFC; 1/0)

FORWARDS (7): Brenden Aaronson (Union Berlin; 40/8), Folarin Balogun (Monaco; 10/3), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven; 23/10), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan; 66/28), Josh Sargent (Norwich City; 23/5), Tim Weah (Juventus; 37/5), Haji Wright (Coventry City; 9/4)

While there were a few camp omissions questioned by American Soccer Twitter — namely midfielder Lennard Maloney 🇩🇪 (24; Berlin, GER) not getting a call-up despite starting 27 games for the eighth-best team in the Bundesliga; and defender Auston Trusty 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (25; Media, PA) making 28 Premier League starts for Sheffield United, yet still not finding his way into the squad — there was a general lack of shock and outrage overall, with Berhalter more than ever seeming to buy into the belief that the cauldron of European football is the best way to harden players for the rigors of international soccer.

The most pressing question faced by Berhalter is who will fill in for injured, uber-talented attacking right back Sergiño Dest 🇳🇱 (23; Almere, NED), something the head coach addressed with the media.

"We have like for like, with Joe Scally and Shaq Moore. We have a winger that can play there, with Timothy Weah, who's played that for his club. We have center midfielders who can play there, with Weston (McKennie) and Yunus (Musah). And then we have center backs that we're looking at; can they play there? Some of [the solution] may revolve around a back three. But the first objective is to see how we're going to fill that right back position, because we know that we're going to be missing Sergiño."

And then there is also an Olympic roster to fill out ahead of this summer’s tournament in Paris, for which players have to be under the age of 23, with an allowance of three overage players. While it’s feasible for a player to play in both the Copa America and the Olympics — Kylian Mbappe reportedly plans on playing in both the Euros and the Olympics for France — it seems quite likely that talented young Americans Abroad like Kevin Paredes, Tanner Tessmann, and Bryan Reynolds will be on a plane to France this summer, instead of crisscrossing the U.S. with Puli, Wes and the boys.

Key Upcoming USMNT Dates:

• May 28: Players report to D.C. area for training camp

• June 8: Friendly with Colombia

• June 12: Friendly with Brazil

• June 15: Final Copa America roster due

• June 23: First Copa America match against Bolivia

Johnny Joins the Midfield Chat:

By virtue of both form and circumstance, one player who could be a major contributor for the U.S. in this summer’s Copa America is Real Betis defensive midfielder Johnny Cardoso 🇪🇸. With midfield mainstay Tyler Adams still playing himself into full-full fitness, and Sergiño Dest’s injury potentially pulling some of Gregg’s box-to-box regulars into right back duty, the 22-year-old from Denville, N.J. is playing some of the best football of his career at the right time. Having started 14 of 16 matches for the seventh-place, UEFA Conference League-bound Verdiblancos, Cardoso was recently nominated for LaLiga Young Player of the Year alongside Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal and Real Madrid’s Rodrygo, despite only making the move to Spain from Brazil in January.

ESPN recently spoke with the holding midfielder about his breakthrough season, and Cardoso himself even sounded a bit surprised at how seamlessly the transition to Spain has gone.

“I have to confess that I didn't expect to adapt so quickly. But the welcome and help from all the players and staff made me feel very comfortable, and made it easier for me to adapt."

The article also provided a statistical breakdown of Cardoso’s play, stating that “among LaLiga defensive midfielders with more than 500 minutes played, the U.S. international ranks in the top six in tackle percentage (52.3%), duel percentage (62.7%) and aerial percentage (66.0%), while his passing percentage in the attacking third (89.6%) is third in the league among defensive midfielders.”

Between the accolades and the raw statistical data, it would seem a tall order to keep Cardoso off the Copa pitch this summer. And Cardoso himself certainly sounds ready to start playing a major role with the USMNT.

"I always say, it's a privilege to be able to represent my country. I don't count on the absence of others either. I always focus a lot on my development and that it only depends on me, on my performance at my club, which today is Betis. And I have a very positive mind: if I develop my soccer well here, I will have opportunities in the national team."

News and Notes:

• Serie US-A Award SZN is apparently in full swing, as Christian Pulisic 🇮🇹 (25; Hershey, PA) has been nominated for Serie A Midfielder of the Season, as well as May Player of the Month (Vote here). Now nominate Diretta Stadio for Call of the Year, you cowards! 📺

• Weston McKennie 🇮🇹 (25; Little Elm, TX) and Tim Weah 🇮🇹 (24; Rosedale, NY) will have a new manager at Juventus, as Max Allegri was shown the exit in Turin — and drove his Fiat through it — despite leading the Bianconeri to a Coppa Italia title and Champions League qualification. Latest reports are that Thiago Motta will take over, on the heels of a great season with Bologna.

• Brenden Aaronson’s 🇩🇪 (23; Medford, NJ) Union Berlin loan may have come to an end, but he heads back to Leeds on a positive note, as the USMNT midfielder had a crucial assist in his final match (Watch), a 2-1 win over Freiburg that guaranteed The Iron Ones’ Bundesliga safety for next season. 

• Tyler Adams 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (25; Wappingers Falls, NY) did not play in the Cherries’ final match of the Premier League season on Sunday, as Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola did not want to take any unnecessary chances with the American midfielder’s health ahead of next season. 🗣 “We didn’t want to take any risks. The last game of the season, for us it’s very important that Tyler starts the preseason in the best condition, without any small issues. So we decided not to take any risks there.”

• Kevin Paredes 🇩🇪 (21; South Riding, VA) scored his third goal of the season — and celebrated with an impressive backflip — in Wolfsburg’s final match of the season, a 3-1 loss to Mainz 05 (Watch). 🤸‍♂️

• Massive congrats to Pellegrino Matarazzo 🇩🇪 for guiding Hoffenheim to a seventh-place Bundesliga finish in his first full season with the club, good enough for a spot in next season’s UEFA Conference League. The 1899-ers will compete in Europe without USMNT center back John Brooks 🇩🇪 (31; Berlin, GER), however, as the club announced that he will be leaving as a free agent when his contract expires next month.

• With the season in Belgium drawing to a close, Bryan Reynolds 🇧🇪 (22; Fort Worth, TX) and Griffin Yow 🇧🇪 (21; Clifton, VA) have both been linked with moves away from Westerlo, as the pair are reportedly drawing transfer interest from England, as well as Turkey and France for Reynolds.

• Great video alert: Ricardo Pepi 🇳🇱 (21; El Paso, TX) signing shirts after PSV’s final match of the season.

• One tier down in the Netherlands, Gedion Zelalem 🇳🇱 (27; Berlin, GER) wrapped up a successful season with FC Den Bosch, starting 25 matches for the Blue White Dragons in midfield. Peep his fan mixtape here. 📼

• Congrats to left back Jeremy Kelly 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (26; Prague, CZE) for helping Crawley Town achieve promotion to League One, with a 2-0 win over Crewe Alexandra in the League 2 Promotion Final on Sunday at Wembley. The former UNC Tar Heel was subbed off in the 90th minute in the victory.

Parting Shots:

Serie B Bowl IV is set to be played on Friday, and the stakes have never been higher, as Gianluca Busio 🇮🇹 (21; Greensboro, NC), Tanner Tessmann 🇮🇹 (22; Birmingham, AL) and Venezia — holding a 1-0 aggregate lead — host Kristoffer Lund 🇮🇹 (22; Kerteminde, DEN) and Palermo in the second leg of the Serie B Promotion Playoff Semi Final (2:30 p.m. EST, FOX Soccer Plus). The winner faces either Cremonese or Catanzaro, with a chance to join Niko Gioacchini 🇮🇹 (23; Kansas City, MO) and Como in the Italian top flight next season. Serie US-A going to become more United States-ier than ever before.