With the U.S. World Cup qualifying campaign on stable ground, Bruce Arena will set aside global aims for a few weeks and turn attention to regional ambitions: the CONCACAF Gold Cup, a biennial competition with no bearing on next year’s grand tournament in Russia.
The national team coach has promised to introduce a number of fresh faces and retain only a portion of the full-strength squad that defeated Trinidad and Tobago and drew in Mexico City in the recent qualifiers. Next Sunday, he’ll name 23 players, pulled from a 40-man preliminary list, before opening training camp a day later.