USMNT

US men's national team calls 38 players for 2021 Olympics-focused camp

USMNT has called 38 players for the first camp of 2021, a year where they're playing Olympic games.

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January 05, 2021 07:11PM EDT

Sebastian Lletget, Jozy Altidore and Cristian Roldan. (Getty)

USMNT is already working to get things done this year after a tumultuous 2020 that saw them play a couple of friendly matches. The Tokyo Olympic Games are set to take part this summer and the US’ teams are getting ready to send the best of the best for these games.

This year will be full of competitions for every country in the world after the unfortunate COVID-19 pandemic made things hard for everybody around the world, including sports. Now things might be a little more normal or close to what we were before this whole thing and several countries are getting ready to hold the competitions they couldn’t last season.

Japan won’t be the exception and USMNT is already calling players for camps ahead of the big tournament over the summer. Head coach Gregg Berhalter has called in 12 senior players for a camp at IMG Academy in Florida, set to begin on January 9. Jason Kreis, boss of the U-23 side, called 26 players to complete the list of 38.

USMNT announces roster for January 2021 camp

36 players from the MLS will take part of this camp, while only two outsiders will join the group, Wolfsburg’s Bryang Kayo and PSV’s Chris Gloster. This is very important knowing the challenges they will face this year and they aren’t missing time. We won’t see players like Weston McKennieor Christian Pulisic but we’ll see veterans like Jozy Altidore, Jordan Morris and Cristian Roldan.

“This is an important year for our national team programs, and we are looking to maximize every possible opportunity,” Berhalter said in a release, via MLS. “For the senior team players, this is an opportunity to continue to develop as a group and build on the foundation of a busy and challenging year. Being alongside our U-23 team gives that group a chance to prepare for Olympic qualifying while further integrating into our culture and game model.”

The U-23 squad are expected to return to the Concacaf Olympic qualifiers in a couple of months from now and this camp will be great for them, as Kreis said. Players born on or after Jan. 1, 1997 are eligible for the final Olympic roster.

“With Olympic qualifying approaching quickly, this training camp is a great opportunity to prepare ourselves and evaluate some new faces,” Kreis said in a release. “While 2020 was a very challenging year, it was impressive to see so many U-23-eligible players make major strides on the field. Some of them have been involved with the senior team over the last few months and it’s exciting to now get our players and staff back together in camp alongside Gregg and his group as we prepare for a very important qualifying tournament.”