Things to watch for in U.S. men’s national soccer game vs. El Salvador on Wednesday
The most talented and promising U.S. men’s soccer players are scattered all over the globe, which makes putting a roster together during a pandemic especially challenging for coach Gregg Berhalter
Rather than have MLS players travel overseas for a pair of November friendlies during the most critical part of the league season, he used Europe-based players for those games and added a week-long December camp at Inter Miami’s training complex to give domestic players a chance to showcase their skills.
The camp culminates Wednesday night at Inter Miami CF Stadium with a friendly against regional rival El Salvador (7:30 p.m., UniMas). Twenty of the 22 players on the U.S. roster come from MLS clubs, a mix of national team veterans and young players eligible to represent the United States in CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying matches in 2021.
Among the players to watch: forwards Ayo Akinola (Toronto FC), Paul Arriola (DC United), Sebastian Soto (Telstar); midfielder Brenden Aaronson (Philadelphia Union); defenders Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC), Aaron Long (NY Red Bulls), Mark McKenzie (Philadelphia Union), Mauricio Pineda (Chicago Fire). Orlando City’s Daryl Dike was injured in camp and will not play.
Fifteen of them are age-eligible for the Tokyo Olympics next summer, and 10 would be making their senior national team debut if they get in the game.
Asked if it is harder for MLS players to earn a spot with more Americans in Europe these days, Long said: “Gregg is going to pick the best guys, no matter what club they play for. The guys are doing amazing in Europe, and we’re really happy for them. We have a tight knit group. Any chance you get to come play a game it’s your time to make a mark.”
Because of the COVID-19 restrictions, the stadium capacity will be limited to 2,500 fans.
“It’s been a really good week, you can see they’re really excited to play the game,” Berhalter said.
The U.S. is 17-1-5 against El Salvador. It will be El Salvador’s first match since the start of the pandemic. El Salvador’s roster includes four U.S.-based players — defender Jonathan Jimenez (Rio Grande Valley FC), midfielder Darwin Ceren (Houston Dynamo), forward Joaquin Rivas (FC Tulsa), Dustin Corea (former Miami FC forward)
Don Garber on Inter Miami’s first season
Despite the many hurdles Inter Miami faced during its inaugural season, MLS commissioner Don Garber remains bullish on the market and said “everything will be fine there.”
Garber, taking media questions after his annual State of the League address on Tuesday, said of Inter Miami:
“This is a team that launched their season after 10 years of anticipation without ever being able to play a home game until they returned in the summer. They did not get to play that game, it was days before that we canceled that game and postponed the season. They spent north of $100 million on a temporary facility. They were in very positive discussions about a downtown stadium. They were in the midst of what I think would have been an unbelievably optimistic and energized level of passion at all levels, and it was all shut down for them.
“The fact that they were able to get into the position they were, that they were able to have a reasonably competitive season and get into the playoffs, to be able to get some fans into their stadium, to be able to get guys like [Rodolfo] Pizarro on the field, to be able to have a very, very passionate and successful coach..to be able to do that during the pandemic as a new team has been remarkable.
“I’ve said to some journalists who I thought were hard on Inter Miami, `Boy, you’ve got to really look at it through what it is they actually went through, which perhaps is more challenging than perhaps any other club. I have great faith in the ownership group. I have great faith in their ability to get the excitement back. The fan base is very passionate, you saw that with the few number of games when they had fans. Everything will be fine there.”
Note: Inter Miami announced Monday that it partnered with the Great Britain-based Global Institute of Sport (GIS) to open a campus at its Fort Lauderdale facility in September 2021. GIS offers sports business and management degrees.
“Our facilities were built with flexibility in mind to serve as long-term economic drivers attracting more business, international competitions and tourism to our communities,” said Inter Miami managing owner Jorge Mas. “This is an exciting, innovative project.”
This story was originally published December 8, 2020 at 4:26 PM.