Pepi left off US World Cup roster

NEW YORK (AP):

The US World Cup team is truly of the video generation. Players who received a FaceTime from coach Gregg Berhalter were headed to Qatar and those given audio calls missed the cut.

“I think the best part of it the last couple of days was really seeing genuine smiles from the guys when I told them, and that’s priceless,” Berhalter said Wednesday night after the televised announcement of his 26-man roster.

Tim Ream, Haji Wright, Joe Scally and Sean Johnson made it.

Ricardo Pepi, Zack Steffen, Paul Arriola and Jordan Pefok fell short.

Norwich’s Josh Sargent and Antalyspor’s Wright beat out Pepi, the 19-year-old whose three goals in qualifying were second behind Christian Pulisic’s five. Berhalter rated Sargent playing in England’s second-tier League Championship higher than Pepi in the Dutch Eredivisie, especially with the US opening the tournament against Wales on November 21 and facing England four days later before finishing group play against Iran on November 29.

“The Dutch League is a great league, but it doesn’t bring the same physicality that the Premier League brings and the Championship brings,” Berhalter said. “Ricardo Pepi could have a great argument for why he should be there, and I can understand that argument.”

Players started getting texts from Berhalter on Sunday afternoon: “Are you available?” He spent three days going through the roster, then turned to just over a dozen dealt the devastation of falling short.

On what figures to be the youngest of the 32 teams by average age, 29-year-old right back DeAndre Yedlin is the only holdover from the 2014 World Cup. Yedlin, Pulisic, Kellyn Acosta and Ream are remaining players from the infamous loss at Trinidad that prevented the Americans from reaching the 2018 tournament.

“This could be a little bit of a redemption or revenge tour if you want to call it that,” Yedlin said. “This is now our time to really – I don’t want to say apologise for that, but show how much we do want it.”

With central defenders Miles Robinson and Chris Richards sidelined by injuries, the 35-year-old Ream returns to the national team for the first time since the opening window of qualifying in September 2021. Ream didn’t play in the final four qualifying windows as Berhalter preferred more mobile options, then was selected over Mark McKenzie and Erik-Palmer Brown.

Cameron Carter-Vickers, a son of former NBA player Howard Carter, also was picked as a central defender. Carter-Vickers, Johnson, Scally, Wright and goalkeeper Ethan Horvath did not appear in any of the 14 qualifiers.

Shaq Moore was picked as a backup over Reggie Cannon at right back and Cristian Roldan ahead of Malik Tillman in midfield, where Berhalter called Arriola “the odd man out”.

“These past few days have been extremely difficult. Some of the hardest I’ve had in a while,” Arriola wrote on Twitter. “I am heartbroken.”

The roster:

Goalkeepers: Ethan Horvath (Luton, England), Sean Johnson (New York City), Matt Turner (Arsenal, England).

Defenders: Cameron Carter-Vickers (Glasgow Celtic, Scotland), Sergiño Dest (AC Milan, Italy), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls), Shaq Moore (Nashville), Tim Ream (Fulham, England), Antonee Robinson (Fulham, England), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach, Germany), DeAndre Yedlin (Miami), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville).

Midfielders: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds, England), Kellyn Acosta (Los Angeles), Tyler Adams (Leeds, England), Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo, Spain), Weston McKennie (Juventus, Italy), Yunus Musah (Valencia, Spain), Cristian Roldan (Seattle).

Forwards: Jesús Ferreira (Dallas), Jordan Morris (Seattle), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea, England), Gio Reyna (Borussia, Dortmund, Germany), Josh Sargent (Norwich, England), Tim Weah (Lille, France), Haji Wright (Antalyspor, Turkey).