Mauricio Pochettino confirmed he is more than willing to call up MLS players to the USMNT as long as they prove their quality on the pitch.
In the past, the U.S. men's national team mostly featured the best American players from Major League Soccer, including Landon Donavan and Clint Dempsey. As homegrown talent began thriving overseas, USMNT squads began to overlook the MLS's top stars in favor of the players competing across Europe. In fact, not a single MLS player logged any minutes under Gregg Berhalter at Copa América 2024.
Pochettino is now at the helm of the Stars and Stripes, though, and made it clear he wants the best players available representing the United States, no matter what league they play in.
"For me I am going to be happy to have most of them playing here in the MLS because I think after [getting] to know the MLS, it is not easy to play here. It's very physical," Pochettino said in a press conference ahead of the USMNT's second leg clash with Jamaica in the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals.
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"[The MLS is] very competitive. They have very good discipline, they train very well and why not?" he continued. "For me they're going to have the same possibility playing in MLS than if they played in the Premier League or in La Liga or in Belgium, in France."
"That is important that they need to know in private but also, they need to know in public. But also the players that will be involved in January [camp], they need to know that if they perform and they convince us and they show the quality, they are going to have the possibility to join us on the national team," he finished.
Pochettino already made good on his word when he named four MLS players to the USMNT's squad for the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals. Patrick Schulte (Columbus Crew), Zack Steffen (Colorado Rapids), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC) and Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati) all made the cut for the November international break.
At age 37, Ream got the nod in the first leg against the Reggae Boyz and helped Matt Turner keep a clean sheet, giving the USMNT a one-goal advantage heading into the second leg in St. Louis. If the Stars and Stripes want to claim their fourth-straight Concacaf Nations League title, then they will need a similar performance from Ream to propel them to the semifinals.
MLS players currently stuck at home could get their opportunity to contribute to the title defense and the national team in the new year.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Mauricio Pochettino Assures Equal Opportunity for MLS Players on the USMNT.
