CARSON, Calif. (Friday, Nov. 6, 2015) – LA Galaxy forwards Gyasi Zardes and Alan Gordon have been named to the USMNT’s 23-man roster by U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann ahead of two 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifying matches in November. The U.S will face St. Vincent & The Grenadines on Friday, Nov. 13 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Mo. at 3:30 p.m. PT (ESPN2, WatchESPN, UniMas and the Univision Deportes Network) before traveling to Port of Spain for a match against Trinidad & Tobago on Tuesday, Nov. 17 (beIN Sports, NBC Universo).
Zardes, 24, made his first USMNT appearance in January earlier this year and has gone on to make 17 total international appearances, tied for the most of any U.S. player in 2015, while tallying two goals and four assists. If Zardes plays in the USMNT’s two World Cup Qualifying matches, he will tie Claudio Reyna in 1994 for most appearances by a player in their first year with the national team (19). This season in MLS play, the LA Galaxy Homegrown Player finished with six goals and four assists in 29 regular season appearances for LA.
Gordon, 34, most recently appeared for the USMNT during the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup, where he played in the second half of the semifinal match against Jamaica. Previously, the Long Beach product made an appearance for his country in 2012 as a substitute against Antigua and Barbuda in a FIFA World Cup Qualifying match when he provided the game-winning assist to Eddie Johnson. Gordon was also called up for the 2013 Gold Cup after the USMNT advanced to the group stage. This season for the Galaxy, the forward finished the season with five goals in 29 appearances, including three game-winning goals.
The LA Galaxy have had six total players named to various U.S. rosters in 2015, including four Homegrown Players that are products of the LA Galaxy Academy: defender Omar Gonzalez & forward Alan Gordon and Homegrown Players Gyasi Zardes, Bradford Jamieson IV, Oscar Sorto and Jose Villarreal.
A capacity crowd of 45,000 is expected for the USA's match in St. Louis, the first of the campaign to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. The game marks the MNT’s first in the United States’ one-time soccer capital in nearly 20 years, with the side last playing to a 0-0 draw with Paraguay at Busch Conference & Sports Center (now World Wide Technology Soccer Park) on June 4, 1997. It will be the first World Cup qualifier played in the St. Louis area since the USA’s draw with El Salvador on Nov. 5 1989, which was also played at Busch Conference & Sports Center.
The MNT is 5-1-2 all time in the city of St. Louis (4-1-1 in World Cup Qualifiers) and is 7-1-2 in the state of Missouri.
The MNT was drawn into Group C for the Semifinal Round of Qualifying along with St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago and Guatemala.
U.S. Roster by Position:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Tim Howard (Everton)
DEFENDERS (8): Ventura Alvarado (Club America), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Matt Miazga (New York Red Bulls), Michael Orozco (Club Tijuana), Tim Ream (Fulham FC), Brek Shea (Orlando City SC)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Mix Diskerud (New York City FC), Miguel Ibarra (Club Leon), Jermaine Jones (New England Revolution), Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers), DeAndre Yedlin (Sunderland)
FORWARDS (5): Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Alan Gordon (LA Galaxy), Jordan Morris (Stanford), Bobby Wood (Union Berlin), Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy)
