The U.S. men’s national team won’t reveal its World Cup roster until Tuesday, May 26, but some of the names are already starting to trickle out.
On Friday, May 22, The Athletic reported that Gio Reyna has been selected to Mauricio Pochettino’s 26-man squad. Diego Luna, who has been a mainstay for Pochettino over the past year and a half, was surprisingly omitted.
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In addition, Brenden Aaronson, Mark McKenzie, Matt Turner and Sebastian Berhalter all made the roster, but there was no room for fast-rising teenager Zavier Gozo.
Reyna has been named to his second World Cup roster despite another frustrating campaign at club level. Amid injuries and coach’s decisions, the 23-year-old has played fewer than 600 total minutes at Borussia Mönchengladbach.
But Pochettino still called Reyna in for March friendlies, saying that his talent and past performances with the USMNT made him worthy of a spot on the team.
The midfielder has been improved lately, playing in five straight games to close out the season and scoring his first Gladbach goal earlier this month.
Luna was on the roster bubble despite playing in 17 of the USMNT’s 18 games last year. The Real Salt Lake playmaker has been in strong form in MLS, but ultimately fell just short of the roster.
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“It’s a lot of feelings, a lot of emotions, a lot of excitement, of nerves, butterflies and stuff like that, but it’s kind of the moment you kind of live for and something we dream about,” Luna told USA TODAY Sports this week.
“Being (on) this bubble is already a blessing, so now it’s just waiting on when the day comes, when that roster announcement comes out.”
Gozo, who plays with Luna at RSL, has been outstanding to start the MLS season, but the 19-year-old faced difficult odds because he’s yet to receive a senior USMNT call-up.
The USMNT will kick off the World Cup on home soil against Paraguay on June 12.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Gio Reyna makes USMNT World Cup roster, Diego Luna out, per report
