US coach Juergen Klinsmann on Tuesday named 17 players from last year’s World Cup squad on the US roster to defend their Gold Cup title next month.
It is the most amount of players ever to be included in a US World Cup squad and subsequent Gold Cup lineup, and the move underscores Klinsmann’s desire to repeat and ensure the US a place in the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia, a warm-up event for the 2018 World Cup there.
“Our approach for putting together the roster for this summer’s Gold Cup, which is very, very important to us, is obviously to do everything possible to win,” Klinsmann said.
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“Winning it would qualify us for the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia, so putting the pieces together is very crucial. That is why we came out with a roster full of quality, but also a lot of experience,” he added.
The Gold Cup features 12 teams from North America. The winners are to play the US — 2013 champions — for the right to compete in the 2017 Confederations Cup, but if the US are victorious, they would clinch the spot themselves.
The Seattle Sounders’ Clint Dempsey and Toronto’s Jozy Altidore are to front the attack for the US, while Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan anchors a defensive unit that features three Bundesliga players — Eintracht Frankfurt’s Tim Chandler, Hertha BSC’s John Brooks and Borussia Moenchengladbach’s Fabian Johnson — and Bolton Wanderers’ Tim Ream.
The midfielders include Tottenham Hotspur’s DeAndre Yedlin, Toronto’s Michael Bradley and Mix Diskerud of New York City.
“We believe we have a very, very strong group that can win this prestigious tournament,” Klinsmann said.
The US play a final warm-up game on July 3 in Nashville against Guatemala and begin defending the Gold Cup four days later against Honduras in a group match in Frisco, Texas.
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