CARSON, Calif. (Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017) – LA Galaxy forward Gyasi Zardes and midfielder Sebastian Lletget have been named to the U.S. Men’s National Team’s 32-man roster by head coach Bruce Arena for its annual January Camp, U.S. Soccer announced today. Players will report to StubHub Center on Jan. 10 and remain with the USMNT through February.
This will be the first training camp coached by Arena since he took over in November of last year, and comes just two months before Final Round Qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup resumes.
In preparation, the U.S. will begin the 2017 campaign with a friendly against Serbia on Jan. 29 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, Calif. Kickoff for Bruce Arena’s first match back in charge of the USMNT is set for 1 p.m. PT, and will be broadcast live on ESPN2 and UniMas. Five days later, the MNT will make its first visit to Chattanooga on Feb. 3 when they host regional rival Jamaica. Kickoff in front of an expected capacity crowd of 20,000 at Finley Stadium is set for 4 p.m. PT, and the match will be broadcast live on FS1 and UniMas (simulcast on UDN).
Zardes earns the call up to the USMNT after recovering from broken fifth metatarsal in his right foot suffered last August that kept him out of the rest of the Galaxy’s MLS season in addition to the USMNT’s first two Final Round Qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The Hawthorne, California product has made 31 appearances for the USMNT in addition to scoring six goals all time. Zardes earned his first ever call up to his country in January 2015 before going on to tie the record for most appearances by a player in their first year with the USMNT (19).
Lletget earns his first-ever call up to the Senior U.S. Men’s National Team. The 24-year-old joined the Galaxy during the 2015 season and has made 40 starts while tallying eight goals and 10 assists in MLS competition. As a youth player, Lletget made multiple appearances for U.S. Men’s National Team youth sides, including call ups to the USMNT U-17’s, U-20’s and U-23’s.
U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION
GOALKEEPERS (5): David Bingham (San Jose Earthquakes), Stefan Frei (Seattle Sounders FC), Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake), Luis Robles (New York Red Bulls)
DEFENDERS (10): DaMarcus Beasley (Unattached), Steve Birnbaum (D.C. United), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders FC), Greg Garza (Atlanta United FC), Matt Hedges (FC Dallas), Taylor Kemp (D.C. United), Chad Marshall (Seattle Sounders FC), Keegan Rosenberry (Philadelphia Union), Walker Zimmerman (FC Dallas), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
MIDFIELDERS (12): Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas), Alejandro Bedoya (Philadelphia Union), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Sporting Kansas City), Jermaine Jones (Unattached), Sacha Kljestan (New York Red Bulls), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy), Kekuta Manneh (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Dax McCarty (New York Red Bulls), Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers), Chris Pontius (Philadelphia Union), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew SC)
FORWARDS (5): Juan Agudelo (New England Revolution), Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders FC), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes), Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy)
LA Galaxy Season Ticket Memberships for the 2017 MLS season are available for purchase now. Galaxy fans can go to www.lagalaxy.com/tickets/seasontickets or call 877-3GALAXY (342-5299) to secure their 2017 LA Galaxy Season Ticket package.
