Before the 23-man U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT) roster finally plays and practices together this week, it is worth to take a look at which Copa America non-roster USMNT players performed well in today’s friendly against Puerto Rico made the best of their week long camp. Twelve players in yesterday’s USMNT roster that played in the Puerto Rico friendly had a one-week opportunity to showcase to Jurgen Klinsmann why they may deserve future national team considerations in World Cup qualifications and next summer’s Gold Cup. Below I rank the seven non-Copa America roster players in order of who helped their cause most, based on their performance v. Puerto Rico:
Copa America Non-Roster USMNT Players Impress
1) Paul Arriola – One goal and an assist in his senior national team debut, along with a start alongside Bobby Wood, showed that the international stage alongside some of the top national team players was not too big a moment for Arriola. The Club Tijuana starter finds himself buried in the national team forwards depth chart by the likes of Wood, Clint Dempsey, Gyasi Zardes, Jordan Morris, and when healthy players like Jozy Altidore and Aaron Johansson, however, he has left quite the impression for future national team call ups:
@PaulArriola Great match today Paul! #MVP
— AO Merced (@AOMerced) May 22, 2016
Congratulations @PaulArriola, firs t#USMNT goal and assist in first cap. (Video: @ussoccer) https://t.co/2q1Mm8Kyzgpic.twitter.com/BD0dUB4Qbq
— @Xolos_En (@xolos_en) May 22, 2016
2) Danny Williams – The 27-year-old midfielder showed early on why Klinsmann keeps him on the national team radar. Early on his pace in moving forward, trying to make things happen and working back to play defense set the tone for the team in the first half. As long as Jermaine Jones and Kyle Beckerman continue to get call ups, Danny Williams will struggle for consistent U.S. appearances, but if he continues playing at the level he showed today, he could slide into the role that Jones and Beckerman currently occupy on the national team. He was on the original 40 man Copa America roster so is eligible as an alternate.
3) Matt Miazga – Came on as a second half substitute for John Brooks, the man he will probably end up playing alongside as the regular starting center backs for the national team in the future. While he didn’t have any flash to him today, he also didn’t make any mistakes. He did get up field a few times, however, it didn’t seem to hurt the team. The key to Miazga making the national team roster in the future will be finding playing time on his club team, which will be a mountainous task next season given fact that Chelsea will not play in Europe, providing less chances for Miazga to get into the starting lineup. He was on the original 40 man Copa America roster so is eligible as an alternate.
4) Emerson Hyndman – Like Miazga, Hyndman came on as a second half substitute and while he didn’t have any SportsCenter highlight type plays, his on field presence, touches and off ball movement provides a sense of assuredness that when he’s on the field, things are in good hands. Should Hyndman make a move to a bigger club this summer, it may go a long way to helping him push his way onto the USMNT rosters in the future.
5) Tim Ream – Ream scored his first international goal to open up the scoring in the game and while he is a serviceable left back, his best position is a center back. He did not impress at the position today and lost the ball at least two times in the first half, becoming a huge liability had the quality of opponent been better. He was subbed off in the 63rd minute. He was on the original 40 man Copa America roster so is eligible as an alternate.
6)Alfredo Morales – Played the full 90 minutes, but failed to impress much beyond having a laser shot outside the box eventually lead to the team’s opening goal off a save by Puerto Rico goalkeeper Matthew Sanchez. Outside of that, he worked hard all game but was sloppy in some of his challenges and frankly was lucky to get out of the game without a yellow or possibly even a red card on some challenges. He was on the original 40 man Copa America roster so is eligible as an alternate.
7) Eric Lichaj – After a long national team hiatus, Lichaj entered the game in the 63rd minute but did not make much of an impact in his 27 minutes of game time. The fact that he is a regular starter for his club team, Nottingham Forest, made it worth giving him a look. Lichaj will need a larger amount of minutes in order to determine whether he can help the national team in the future. He was on the original 40 man Copa America roster so is eligible as an alternate.
8) Fafa Picault – While he did not score, he was present and involved anytime the ball was around Puerto Rico’s box. Unfortunately, he entered the game in the 71st minute, not providing enough time to get a full feel for what he can offer the national team in the future. Should he continue to perform well in Germany, it would not be surprising to see him on a few World Cup qualifying USMNT rosters in the Fall.
9) Julian Green – The only thing that Green showed was that he has speed and pace, however, his passing, ball handling and defense were not impressive at all and didn’t make me change my stance on the fact that he won’t ever be able to live up to the lofty expectations Klinsmann bestowed on him when he took him to Brazil in 2014.
T10 )Amando Moreno, Caleb Stanko, Zack Steffen – Did not play, so cannot determine what their futures with the national team may look like.
There were many positives from the nine players not going to Copa America showed on the field against Puerto Rico, even if the competition was nothing like what the team will see in a few weeks when the Centenario officially kicks off. The good news is that no one played their way off future national team call ups and has something to offer the team should they be lucky enough to receive future invites.
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