Bayern Munich midfielder Malik Tillman is switching affiliation from Germany to the United States and is among 27 players invited to the Americans’ next-to-last training camp ahead of the World Cup.
Haji Wright, a 24-year-old forward from Los Angeles who is on a scoring run in the Turkish league, also is among the players who could make their U.S. debuts along with Borussia Mönchengladbach outside back Joe Scally, who was on the roster for November World Cup qualifiers but did not get in a match.
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Glasgow Celtic defender Cameron Carter-Vickers and Montreal midfielder Djordje Mihailovic also were called in Friday after being bypassed in the 14 qualifiers from September to March.
Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie, sidelined since breaking broke a bone in his left foot on Feb. 22, was invited and could make his return.
Dortmund midfielder Gio Reyna (reoccurrence of leg injury on April 28), Atlanta defender Miles Robinson (torn left ACL on May 7), Barcelona outside back Sergiño Dest (right hamstring on April 24) and Young Boys striker Jordan Pefok (hasn't played since May 7) will miss the games due to injuries. Josh Sargent and Chris Richards are also hurt.
Wolfsburg defender John Brooks and Ausgburg forward Ricardo Pepi were among the notable omissions. Pepi has been playing constantly for 15 months and has not scored in 24 matches for club and country since October. Brooks, a 29-year-old defender who was on the 2014 World Cup roster, has not been picked by U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter since qualifiers last September.
The U.S. has exhibitions against Morocco on June 1 at Cincinnati and vs. Uruguay four days later at Kansas City, Kansas, then has CONCACAF Nations League matches against Grenada on June 10 at Austin, Texas, and at El Salvador four days later.
The Americans plan a pair of friendlies in Europe in September, then will open the World Cup in Qatar on Nov. 21 against Wales, Scotland or Ukraine. They play England four days later and close group play against Iran on Nov. 29.
Tillman, 19, was born in Germany to a father in the U.S military and a German mother. He played for the U.S. under-15 team in 2016 and for Germany at several youth levels. Tillman made his Bundesliga debut with Bayern Munich on Dec. 14 and has played in four league, two Champions League and one German Cup matches this season. The U.S. Soccer Federation said he had applied to FIFA for a change of affiliation.
Wright played for the U.S. at the 2015 Under-17 World Cup alongside Christian Pulisic and Tyler Adams and attended a national team training camp in May 2019 that included young players. He scored 14 goals in 31 league matches entering Friday for Antalyaspor and had a seven-game scoring streak.
Carter-Vickers, 24, helped Glasgow Celtic win the Scottish Premier League this season in his first season with the club, scoring four goals in 33 league appearances. A son of former NBA player Howard Carter, he has made eight international appearances since 2017, all in exhibitions and none since June 2019 against Jamaica.
Mihailovic, 23, has six MLS goals for Montreal this season. He played six times for the U.S. in 2019 and ’20 but not since.
Also among those not included are goalkeeper Sean Johnson; defenders Mark McKenzie, Matt Miazga, Shaq Moore, Tim Ream, Bryan Reynolds, James Sands and Sam Vines; midfielders Gianluca Busio and Sebastian Lletget; and forwards Konrad De La Fuente, Matthew Hoppe and Gyasi Zardes.
The roster:
Goalkeepers: Ethan Horvath (Nottingham Forest, England), Zack Steffen (Manchester City, England), Matt Turner (New England)
Defenders: George Bello (Arminia Bielefeld, Germany), Reggie Cannon (Boavista Portugal), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Glasgow Celtic, Scotland), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls), Erik Palmer-Brown (Troyes, France), Antonee Robinson (Fulham, England), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach, Germany), DeAndre Yedlin (Miami), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville)
Midfielders: Kellyn Acosta (Los Angeles), Tyler Adams (Leipzig, Germany), Luca de la Torre (Heracles, Netherlands), Weston McKennie (Juventus, Italy), Djordje Mihailovic (Montreal), Yunus Musah (Valencia, Spain), Cristian Roldan (Seattle), Malik Tillman (Bayern Munich, Germany)
Forwards: Brenden Aaronson (Salzburg, Austria), Paul Arriola (Dallas), Jesús Ferreira (Dallas;), Jordan Morris (Seattle), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea England), Tim Weah (Lille, France), Haji Wright (Antalyaspor, Turkey)
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