It’s been 285 days since the U.S. men’s national team last played a game, but that wait ends Thursday in a friendly vs. Wales.
The two nations meet at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea, which marks the first USMNT game since a Feb. 1 friendly against Costa Rica (won by the U.S., 1-0, on a Ulysses Llanez penalty kick).
This U.S. group is full of young, Europe-based talent, with 10 uncapped players joining the mix. Arguably the most intriguing of the uncapped bunch is Gio Reyna, the Borussia Dortmund rising star who turns 18 on Friday. Another is 17-year-old Valencia winger Yunus Musah, who maintains eligibility for England, Italy and Ghana and won’t be cap-tied with an appearance vs. the Dragons.
One U.S. attraction who won’t be playing is Christian Pulisic, who was carrying a hamstring injury into camp and returned to Chelsea Wednesday night after spending a few days with Gregg Berhalter’s squad.
Berhalter’s counterpart, Ryan Giggs, is not managing Wales during this window, after he was arrested on suspicion of assaulting his girlfriend. Assistant coach Robert Page will man the sideline in his place, overseeing a squad led by Tottenham’s Gareth Bale.
Stay tuned here for live updates and highlights of goals and key plays from throughout the match (refresh for most recent updates).
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Here is the USA’s lineup for the match:
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Here are the full rosters for both teams:
USA
GOALKEEPERS: Ethan Horvath (Club Brugge), Chituru Odunze (Leicester City), Zack Steffen (Manchester City)
DEFENDERS: John Brooks (Wolfsburg), Reggie Cannon (Boavista), Sergiño Dest (Barcelona), Matt Miazga (Anderlecht), Tim Ream (Fulham), Chris Richards (Bayern Munich), Antonee Robinson (Fulham)
MIDFIELDERS: Tyler Adams (RB Leipzig), Johnny Cardoso (Internacional), Richie Ledezma (PSV Eindhoven), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Yunus Musah (Valencia), Owen Otasowie (Wolverhampton)
FORWARDS: Konrad de la Fuente (Barcelona), Nicholas Gioacchini (Caen), Ulysses Llanez (Heerenveen), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund), Sebastian Soto (Telstar), Tim Weah (Lille)
WALES
GOALKEEPERS: Tom King (Newport County), Danny Ward (Leicester City), Owain Fôn Williams (Dunfermline)
DEFENDERS: Ethan Ampadu (Sheffield United), Ben Davies (Tottenham), Chris Gunter (Charlton Athletic), James Lawrence (St. Pauli), Tom Lockyer (Luton Town), Chris Mepham (Bournemouth), Rhys Norrington-Davies (Luton Town), Connor Roberts (Swansea City), Joe Rodon (Tottenham), Neco Williams (Liverpool)
MIDFIELDERS: David Brooks (Bournemouth), Daniel James (Manchester United), Brennan Johnson (Lincoln City), Dylan Levitt (Charlton Athletic), Joe Morrell (Luton Town), John Sheehan (Newport County), Matthew Smith (Doncaster Rovers), Jonny Williams (Charlton Athletic), Harry Wilson (Cardiff City)
FORWARDS: Gareth Bale (Tottenham), Tom Lawrence (Derby County), Rabbi Matondo (Schalke), Kieffer Moore (Cardiff City), Tyler Roberts (Leeds United)
