Brady, Gutiérrez included in Gold Cup Provisional Roster
Chris Brady and Brian Gutiérrez have been included in the U.S. Men's National Team's 60-man provisional roster for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the confederation announced today. The pair of 21-year-old are both hoping to make the final squad, which will be announced by U.S. Soccer this Thursday.
Gutiérrez, who confirmed his international commitment to the United States in an interview with MIR97 Media last week, has been a part of both U.S. senior rosters so far in 2025. The Fire homegrown started in both January Camp friendlies, making his first USMNT appearances, before being an injury replacement on March's CONCACAF Nations League Finals squad. Should "Guti" make the final cut for Mauricio Pochettino's team, he will finally be officially cap-tied to the United States.
Brady, on the other hand, finally got his first-ever inclusion in a provisional squad for the U.S. senior team. The Naperville native was among the most high-profile snubs from last year's Olympic team and had yet to receive any attention from Pochettino's staff in his first six months in charge. Due to that, Brady recently opened the door to a potential international future with Scotland, a nation he's also eligible to represent, and has sought to acquire a U.K. passport; however, with his priority still being to represent the country of his birth, this inclusion in a welcome sight.
Former Chicago Fire homegrown midfielder Djordje Mihailovic was also named to the provisional roster. Vancouver's Sebastian Berhalter, son of Chicago Fire Head Coach Gregg Berhalter, made a preliminary squad for the first time and has a very good chance of making the team.
Will Guti and Brady make the cut?
Neither Gutiérrez nor Brady is a lock to be included in the final roster, but both certainly have good shouts. Talented attacking midfielder Giovanni Reyna was excluded from the provisional squad, meaning that Malik Tillman and Diego Luna are likely considered the top names in this position. Guti's experience with Pochettino in January and March could give him the edge over Paxten Aaronson, who is likely competing with him for the final slot. Expect him to be used as a winger if called up; while this season has demonstrated that he's much better through the middle of the field, the lack of depth out wide in the U.S. pool means he'll likely be needed there.
Brady's inexperience with the national team makes a call-up much more unlikely, even if his performances over the last two-and-a-half years have warranted a long-overdue inclusion. Matt Turner and Patrick Schulte are likely to be considered locks based on call-up patterns from the last 12 months, so the third goalkeeper slot is up for contention. Zack Steffen's current injury means Brady is competing with New York City FC's Matt Freese and FC Barcelona's Diego Kochen; it is difficult to know which direction Pochettino will go, but Brady is the only one from that group yet to come into a camp under his tutelage.
Should either player make the roster, they will miss several weeks of MLS action with the Fire.
Projected Roster (Mauricio Pochettino)
Goalkeepers: Diego Kochen, Patrick Schulte, Matt Turner
Center backs: Cameron Carter-Vickers, Mark McKenzie, Tim Ream, Chris Richards, Miles Robinson
Full backs: Sergiño Dest, Antonee Robinson, Joe Scally, John Tolkin
Central midfielders: Tyler Adams, Sebastian Berhalter, Johnny Cardoso, Aidan Morris, Tanner Tessmann
Attacking midfielders/wingers: Brian Gutiérrez, Diego Luna, Yunus Musah, Christian Pulisic, Malik Tillman, Haji Wright
Center forwards: Folarin Balogun, Damion Downs, Brian White
Preferred Roster (Alex Calabrese)
Goalkeepers:Chris Brady, Matt Freese, Matt Turner
Center backs: Maxi Dietz, Mark McKenzie, Chris Richards, Miles Robinson, Walker Zimmerman
Full backs: Sergiño Dest, Alex Freeman, Antonee Robinson, Joe Scally
Central midfielders: Tyler Adams, Sebastian Berhalter, Johnny Cardoso, Aidan Morris, Yunus Musah
Attacking midfielders/wingers: Paxten Aaronson, Brian Gutiérrez, Djordje Mihailovic, Christian Pulisic, Malik Tillman, Alex Zendejas
Center forwards: Folarin Balogun, Damion Downs, Brian White
Read more:
https://meninred97.com/gutierrez-eyes-future-with-club-and-country/
