Gregg Berhalter and the United States men’s national team has to survive without AC Milan winger Christian Pulisic following an injury earlier this week.
Pulisic went down late in Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain, which was initially feared to be a hamstring injury judging by the manner in how he reacted.
Milan has since diagnosed that injury as muscle fatigue, but Berhalter has opted to give his star man the time to rest up instead of having him take part in the home-and-away fixtures against Trinidad & Tobago.
Not only will this team be without Pulisic, but a fellow American playing in Italy – Timothy Weah – has missed this roster with what US Soccer says is a hamstring injury.
Weah was taken off in a match in late October for his club, Juventus, after playing just 45 minutes.
Christian Pulisic has been left off the roster for the USMNT’s November fixtures
Joining him on the injured list is Juventus winger Tim Weah, who has an injured hamstring
He missed his club’s most recent match against Fiorentina with a hamstring issue.
Going down the roster, a pair of Nottingham Forest goalkeepers stay on the roster: Matt Turner and Ethan Horvath.
Turner has seemingly lost the starting job for Forest after a costly mistake in his club side’s recent clash with Liverpool – where he eagerly went off his line and left Mo Salah with an open net to shoot at.
Horvath hasn’t started for Forest in a while and it’s believed that he’ll be looking for a new club in January.
Gaga Slonina, who last played in January for the USMNT, is in the team after solid performances for his club side KAS Eupen in Belgium.
Defensively, almost all of the same unit that was called up for the recent friendlies against Germany and Ghana has returned.
The one change is the return of Fulham fullback Antonee ‘Jedi’ Robinson, who replaces New England Revolution man DeJuan Jones.
In midfield, youngster Paxten Aaronson has been called up and is hoping to make his second appearance for the Stars and Stripes.
He’s joined by his brother – Brenden Aaronson – in attack. It’s the first time the pair have been called into the same USMNT camp.
Johnny Cardoso – set to make a move from Internacional in Brazil to La Liga side Real Betis in January – is also back in the roster as is Luca de la Torre.
Lenny Maloney, who made his debut for the United States in the match against Ghana last month, is hoping to make his debut in official competition for the USMNT for these upcoming fixtures.
Midfield fixtures Yunus Musah, Gio Reyna, and Weston McKennie are also all a part of this roster – and are joined by Malik Tillman.
Despite recent struggles, Matt Turner makes his return to his country’s national team roster
Antonee ‘Jedi’ Robinson makes his return after an injury kept him away in October
In attack, the aforementioned Aaronson should be getting some decent run on the wings in the absence of Pulisic and Weah.
Other wingers looking to get time include Wolfsburg youngster Kevin Paredes and Club América star Alejandro ‘Alex’ Zendejas.
At the striker position are two familiar faces: Folarin Balogun of Monaco and Ricardo Pepi of PSV Eindhoven.
The upcoming set of fixtures are crucial for the USMNT not only for their hopes of defending a Nations League crown – but to also qualify for the Copa America.
Despite being the host nation for South America’s premier soccer tournament, CONMEBOL did not grant the United States an automatic spot in the competition as they did in 2016 for the Copa America Centenario.
Instead, the USMNT needs to reach the semifinals of the CONCACAF Nations League to secure that spot. If not, they’ll need to go through a play-in process.
Midfield veterans Yunus Musah (L) and Weston McKennie (R) make their expected returns
Brothers Paxten (L) and Brenden (R) Aaronson are in camp together for the first time ever
But they can avoid that if they can win these upcoming matches against a team that has given them fits in the past: Trinidad and Tobago.
The two nations have been integral in each other’s soccer history – being heated rivals in the 1990s and the 2000s.
In fact, the second leg – played in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad – comes a day after the 34-year anniversary of Paul Caligiuri’s ‘Shot Heard ‘Round the World’ that sent the Americans into the 1990 World Cup on the final day of qualifying.
Of course, the USMNT has suffered more recent heartbreak on the final day of World Cup qualifying at the hands of Trinidad as well – when the Soca Warriors beat the Americans 2-1 to knock them out of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.