Sporting Kansas City defender Matt Besler and midfielder Graham Zusi are among 22 players on the U.S. Men’s National Team roster for next week’s international friendly against Mexico, U.S. Soccer announced on Wednesday. Both players will be available for Sporting Kansas City’s match at the Colorado Rapids on Saturday before joining the U.S. Men’s National Team.
Besler, 27, has made 13 appearances for the United States since debuting in January 2013, including six FIFA World Cup qualifiers and all three knockout round games en route to the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup championship. He most recently appeared alongside Zusi in the United States 2-0 victory over Korea Republic last month and the U.S. is 9-1-2 with Besler in the starting lineup.
The Overland Park, Kan. native was named Sporting Kansas City’s captain prior to the 2014 season, his sixth as a professional after being selected eighth overall in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft out of Notre Dame. Besler has appeared in 138 MLS matches (including postseason) in his career, earning MLS Best XI (2012, 2013), MLS All-Star (2011, 2013) and MLS Defender of the Year (2012) honors.
"This is an important game for us," Besler said. "Most guys are making cases for themselves to make the roster, but I think more important, as a team, we are trying to make a case for ourselves to learn how to play better with each other and get that chemistry. We are going there to win the game. Hopefully, every guy that gets called in comes with the right mentality."
Zusi has earned 19 appearances for the United States Men’s National Team, including caps in each of the last three meetings with Mexico (2-0-1). He scored in the final two FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, highlighted by the game-winning goal against Jamaica at Sporting Park to secure a first place finish in the Hexagonal for the U.S. and the stoppage time goal in a 3-2 win at Panama that put Mexico in position to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Zusi has three goals and three assists in his international career.
Over six professional seasons, the 27-year-old playmaker has played in 135 MLS matches (including postseason) with 17 goals and 36 assists. Zusi recorded a career-high six goals and a team-best 12 assists in all competition in 2013 and was the top-rated midfielder in the MLS Castrol Index. The Maryland alum was an MLS MVP finalist in 2012 and nominee for Best MLS Player at the 2013 ESPYS to go along with MLS All-Star (2012, 2013) and MLS Best XI (2012, 2013) recognition.
"It's one of our big rivals," Zusi said. "It's another big test before the World Cup so any opportunity where we can get out on the field together is an opportunity to get better as a team. I think we have done a great job of coming together as a team, knowing what we want to accomplish and how we want to accomplish it as a team and now it's just fine-tuning."
"Graham over the last two years has established himself strongly with the National Team and especially in many World Cup qualifiers as a very good performer," U.S. Men's National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann said.
The No. 14-ranked United States Men’s National Team will play No. 20-ranked Mexico at 10 p.m. CT on Wednesday, April 2 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. The match will be shown live on ESPN, WatchESPN and UniMas with radio coverage available on the ESPN Deportes Radio Network.
