/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48511231/usa-today-8521557.0.jpg)
The 23-player roster for the first US Men's National Team camp of 2016 has been released, and confirming yesterday's reports, the Sounders' Clint Dempsey and Brad Evans weren't called in. That could be considered a snub, or it could just be a continuation of the tradition of January camps being focused on younger players.
There's a lot of evidence for the latter, as the roster includes a significant number of untested or barely-tested players. Eleven of the 23 players are young enough to make the Olympics roster as non-overage players and nearly half of the players in camp (10) have never been capped by the senior team. And the list of those capped includes relative newbies Darlington Nagbe (who only just gained eligibility before playing in a couple of World Cup qualifiers in November) and the reigning MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Luis Robles, who'd previously only appeared in one Gold Cup match in 2009.
And most notably for Sounders fans, Jordan Morris — who's in the middle of deciding whether to join Seattle as a Homegrown Player or jet off to the Bundesliga — has been called into camp, which presumably will shorten his trial with Werder Bremen in Turkey.
The team isn't entirely devoid of veteran experience. The Toronto pair of Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore were called in, as was Jermaine Jones, who's effectively without a club after presumably leaving New England.
The camp will culminate in a pair of friendlies in Carson — against Iceland (probably still mad about losing Aron Jóhannsson) on Jan .31 and against Canada (probably still mad they have to play Will Johnson) on Feb 5.
Here's the full roster:
U.S. Roster by Position:
GOALKEEPERS (2): Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Luis Robles (New York Red Bulls)
DEFENDERS (7): Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Matt Miazga (New York Red Bulls), Eric Miller (Montreal Impact), Tim Parker (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Marc Pelosi (San Jose Earthquakes), Matt Polster (Chicago Fire)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Fatai Alashe (San Jose Earthquakes), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Mix Diskerud (New York City FC), Jermaine Jones (Unattached), Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers), Lee Nguyen (New England Revolution), Tony Tchani (Columbus Crew SC), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew SC)
FORWARDS (6): Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Ethan Finlay (Columbus Crew SC), Jerome Kiesewetter (VfB Stuttgart), Jordan Morris (Unattached), Khiry Shelton (New York City FC), Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy)