TAMPA, Fla. — After a year of watching from afar, a couple of American stalwarts are back in the U.S. national team mix.
Ahead of this month’s friendlies against Colombia (Thursday, 7:30 p.m. ET | FS1, UniMás, UDN) and Peru, Michael Bradley and Brad Guzan joined a mostly young squad, bringing a combined 198 caps between them — nearly as many as the other 21 players on the roster combined (209).
While many assumed that Bradley would be back with the national team as some point following last October's World Cup qualifying failure, the Toronto FC midfielder said from camp this week that he wasn’t quite as certain.
“I don’t think anybody ever knows that, so you enjoy every opportunity you have with the national team and you don’t ever take it for granted," Bradley said. "For me, the opportunity to be back now and start to get to know some of the younger guys that have been around the last nine or 10 months is great. I’m very excited.”
Mixing in experienced players like Guzan and Bradley has always been part of the plan for interim head coach Dave Sarachan as he continues to carry the program forward toward next summer’s Concacaf Gold Cup and beyond.
“I’ve kind of been alluding to it for the last few months that at some point, we’d like to integrate some veteran guys with experience that can help with some of these young guys,” Sarachan said. “I felt the timing was right and it’s going to be really good to have a few of the veterans like Michael and Brad in the mix with this group.”
As for how the vets fit into a young roster, Guzan said the leadership and experience he and Bradley provide will benefit the team.
“I think whenever you are bringing together a group of players and you have a bunch of young players, it’s important that you have some senior guys to help pull them along in difficult circumstances and situations,” the Atlanta United goalkeeper said. “Going forward, that’s something you’re always trying to get the balance right in terms of senior players and young players.”
In particular, Columbus Crew SC goalkeeper Zack Steffen has caught Guzan’s eye. Though they have been in camps together before, this is Guzan’s first since Steffen made his senior international debut in January.
“[Zack] has been very good,” Guzan said. “I think we, as a country, have always been able to have a pipeline if you will, to having successful goalkeepers and of course playing regularly with his club in Columbus and getting important games and growing his confidence was always going to make him better. Ultimately, you want guys to be improving and getting better and helping the program.”
