SEATTLE, WASH. – U.S. Soccer today announced that Sounders FC forwards Clint Dempsey and Jordan Morris have been named to Bruce Arena’s U.S. Men’s National Team roster for upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. Ahead of those matches, the USMNT is set to host Venezuela in a friendly at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah on June 3 before World Cup Qualifying matches against Trinidad & Tobago in Commerce City, Colorado on June 8 and at Mexico’s Azteca Stadium on June 11.
Dempsey has 132 international appearances and ranks second all-time with 56 career goals for the USMNT, one shy of Landon Donovan’s all-time American scoring record. Earlier this year, Dempsey scored four goals over a pair of World Cup Qualifiers, including a hat trick against Honduras on March 24. The Nacogdoches, Texas native leads Sounders FC with four goals in the 2017 campaign.
Morris, 22, has 14 caps for the U.S. Men's National Team, including three appearances in 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifying thus far. The Mercer Island native scored his second international goal in a 1-0 friendly win over Jamaica in February, following his first USMNT strike at Mexico on April 15, 2015. The Sounders FC Homegrown Player has two goals in 13 appearances so far in 2017 after recording 14 goals in his first professional campaign last year (including postseason), earning 2016 AT&T MLS Rookie of the Year honors.
Kickoff in front of what is expected to be a capacity crowd at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on June 8 is set for 4:50 p.m. PT, and the match is being broadcast on FS1, UniMas and UDN. Only three days later, the U.S. seeks its first three points away to Mexico in FIFA World Cup Qualifying. The historic Estadio Azteca in Mexico City hosts the 66th meeting between the teams since 1934, which is being televised on FS1, Univision and UDN beginning at 5:30 p.m. PT.
In preparation for the World Cup Qualifiers, the USMNT plays a tune-up against Venezuela on June 3 at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah. FS1 and the Univision networks have the call at 7:00 p.m. PT.
The home tilt against Trinidad marks the halfway point of the Final Round of CONCACAF 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifying, with the U.S. currently sitting in fourth place in the six-team table. After suffering two losses to open the Hex, the U.S. bounced back with a resounding 6-0 shutout of Honduras in San Jose before picking up a vital point on the road in a 1-1 draw against Panama. At this point, the USMNT still has three home and three away matches to go.
U.S. MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM ROSTER BY POSITION
GOALKEEPERS (4): Brad Guzan (Atlanta United FC), Ethan Horvath (Club Brugge), Tim Howard (Colorado Rapids), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
DEFENDERS (11): DaMarcus Beasley (Houston Dynamo), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), John Brooks (Hertha Berlin), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Timmy Chandler (Eintracht Frankfurt), Omar Gonzalez (Pachuca), Matt Hedges (FC Dallas), Tim Ream (Fulham), Jorge Villafaña (Santos Laguna), DeAndre Yedlin (Newcastle United), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas), Paul Arriola (Club Tijuana), Alejandro Bedoya (Philadelphia Union), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Dax McCarty (Chicago Fire), Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers), Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund)
FORWARDS (4): Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders FC), Bobby Wood (Hamburg/GER)
