sport news USMNT VERDICT: Young stars can propel Berhalter's men into the World Cup ... trends now
Fans of the USMNT have been debating whether to include Ricardo Pepi or Jordan Pefok as the final striker for the team going to Qatar.
On Wednesday, they got their answer: Neither of them.
USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter today made some selection shocks, as US Soccer announced the 26 players called up to represent the United States at the FIFA World Cup this month.
USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter revealed the World Cup squad at a televised event in NYC
'I don't think there's so many surprises, is there? What do we think? Joe, are there a lot of surprises?,' Berhalter asked the room - turning to one reporter who indicated there were a few.
'Really?', Berhalter said with a shrug.
On a night where names of some of the best players in the United States had their fate publicly revealed in front of a muted crowd at a live music venue in Brooklyn, there were some moments that drew surprised reactions from the crowd.
At each of the four positions, Americans have surprises joining the flight and/or left behind - and we're going to break it down and see how these decisions will impact the USMNT's chances.
At the nationally televised event, select players - like Sean Johnson (center) made appearances
Forwards - Surprise inclusion: Haji Wright / Surprise snub: Jordan Pefok and Ricardo Pepi
Like the introduction alluded, Jordan Pefok and Ricardo Pepi have occupied favored roles within this squad at different times. Instead of picking one over the other, the coaching staff took a third unexplored option and left both of them at home.
'When we were looking at this as coaches, we were evaluating Haji versus Jordan Pefok and that's what it came down to and in this particular case we felt like Haji is in great goal scoring form.'
Berhalter backed up his pick by comparing his goal scoring out put to Belgian striker Michy Batshuayi.
'The starting striker for Belgium (Batshuayi) also plays in the Turkish league and has five goals. And Haji has nine.'
Neither Jordan Pefok (L) nor Ricardo Pepi (R) will be taking the flight to Qatar in a few weeks
Instead, Antalyaspor striker Haji Wright will board the plane - as he sits 2nd in the Turkish goal scoring table with nine goals in twelve matches for the team
From a pure production standpoint, all signs would point to Wright for being the correct choice. Pefok does have three goals and three assists in the Bundesliga, but he hasn't scored since mid-September. Similarly, Pepi didn't find goals until after a move away from the Bundesliga to Groningen in the slightly less competitive Eredivisie.
Meanwhile, Wright has more goals with Antalyaspor than Pepi and Pefok combined so far this season.
In Berhalter's system, there's only one striker and the position doesn't seem to have been removed from Jesus Ferreira's hands - even though the FC Dallas striker hopes his former teammate Pepi joined him.
'At the end of the day, it's coaches decision, but obviously he's a guy I would've liked to share this moment with... hopefully he'll be in the next one,' Ferreira said after the announcement.
Midfield - Surprise inclusion: Brenden Aaronson / Surprise snub: Paul Arriola
This'll be a quick point for the inclusion. Brenden Aaronson was always going to be a part of this team, but he's normally deployed as a winger in Berhalter's system and at Leeds United under Jesse Marsch.
So when he was announced with the midfield group, it raised eyebrows and attention - as well as questions whether he'd be deployed as a forward or a midfielder.
'He can do both,' Berhalter answered, 'Midfield... is light for us compared to the forward
