Miami-born Haitian-American Konrad named to U.S. team for World Cup qualifying matches
Konrad de la Fuente’s rise from Miami youth player to international star continues as the 20-year-old Haitian American, who plays winger for French club Marseille, was named to the U.S. national team Thursday for upcoming World Cup qualifying matches.
U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter called 26 players to Nashville to begin preparations for three September qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The U.S. team will travel to face El Salvador on Sept. 2 at 10 p.m. (CBS Sports Network). Next, they face Canada in Nashville on Sept. 5 at 8 p.m. on FS1, UniMás. The United States closes its first set of qualifiers on Sept. 8 at 10 p.m. against Honduras in San Pedro Sula.
Konrad, as he is known, returns to the U.S. camp for the first time since making his debut on Nov. 12, 2020, against Wales. Since transferring from FC Barcelona to Olympique Marseille this summer, he has started each of the club’s first three Ligue 1 matches this season, registering an assist in his debut on Aug. 8 at Montpellier.
Konrad last July became the first American to play for FC Barcelona’s first team when he played the second half of a preseason match against Gimnastic Tarragona. He played mostly for Barca’s Under-19 team and B team, so he made the switch to Marseille to get more playing time.
Konrad’s career began at Kendall SC. He also trained at Schulz Academy in Boca Raton. When Konrad was 10, his father, Conrad, a native of Haiti, took a job as a commercial attache with the Haitian Embassy in Madrid and the family relocated there. That is where he was spotted by FC Barcelona scouts, and he joined the club’s youth program.
The U.S. roster includes nine MLS players and 17 players based in Europe.
GOALKEEPERS (3): Ethan Horvath (Nottingham Forest/ENG), Zack Steffen (Manchester City/ENG), Matt Turner (New England Revolution)
DEFENDERS (10): George Bello (Atlanta United), John Brooks (Wolfsburg/GER), Sergiño Dest (Barcelona/ESP), Mark McKenzie (Genk/BEL), Tim Ream (Fulham/ENG), Antonee Robinson (Fulham/ENG), Miles Robinson (Atlanta United), James Sands (New York City FC), DeAndre Yedlin (Galatasaray/TUR), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC)
MIDFIELDERS (5): Kellyn Acosta (Colorado Rapids), Tyler Adams (RB Leipzig/GER), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy), Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders)
FORWARDS (8): Brenden Aaronson (RB Salzburg/AUT), Konrad de la Fuente (Olympique Marseille/FRA), Jordan Pefok (BSC Young Boys/SUI), Ricardo Pepi (FC Dallas), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea/ENG), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund/GER), Josh Sargent (Norwich City/ENG), Tim Weah (Lille/FRA).