by SAN JOSE, Calif. – San Jose Earthquakes forward Chris Wondolowski (Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma) was among 26 players named to the United States Men’s National Team roster by head coach Jurgen Klinsmann for a pair of decisive World Cup Qualifying matches against St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago.
The first contest takes place at Arnos Vale Stadium in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Friday, September 2 (12:30 p.m. PT, beIN SPORT), followed by the second match against T&T on Tuesday, September 6 at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida (5 p.m. PT, FS1/UniMas). The Americans (2-1-1; 7 pts.) are attempting to advance to Round Five of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and are in Group C along with Trinidad and Tobago (3-0-1; 10 pts.), Guatemala (2-0-2; 6 pts.) and St. Vincent (0-0-4; 0 pts.). The top two teams from each group will advance.
“What makes us optimistic going into these qualifiers is watching our strikers scoring goals,” said Klinsmann. “Clint Dempsey has been back scoring and we wanted to have him here, but of course his health comes first. We’re thinking of Clint and hoping that he will be okay. With our other forwards, Jozy is back scoring. Jordan Morris is doing really well. Then we’ve had the European-based players Bobby Wood and Rubio Rubin starting their season right now. It looks good. Wondolowski is scoring as well, and Gyasi Zardes is also, so that’s a good thing for us. We know our strikers are hungry for goals, and hopefully they can start with that right away in St. Vincent.”
Wondolowski, 33, has made 34 appearances for the U.S. National Team, scoring 10 goals. He has tallied 118 career MLS goals, fourth most in league history and the most among all active players in the league.
U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION
GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Middlesbrough), Ethan Horvath (Molde FC), Tim Howard (Colorado Rapids)
DEFENDERS (9): Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Steve Birnbaum (D.C. United), John Brooks (Hertha BSC), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Omar Gonzalez (Pachuca), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Monchengladbach), Michael Orozco (Club Tijuana), DeAndre Yedlin (Newcastle)
MIDFIELDERS (9): Paul Arriola (Club Tijuana), Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Alejandro Bedoya (Philadelphia Union), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Jermaine Jones (Colorado Rapids), Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers), Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund), Caleb Stanko (FC Vaduz), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
FORWARDS (5): Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders FC), Rubio Rubin (FC Utrecht), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes), Bobby Wood (Hamburg SV)
