{"id":571,"date":"2026-05-26T23:07:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T23:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=571"},"modified":"2026-05-26T23:07:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T23:07:00","slug":"bay-area-native-luna-misses-us-world-cup-roster-as-reyna-berhalter-zendejas-make-cut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=571","title":{"rendered":"Bay Area native Luna misses US World Cup roster as Reyna, Berhalter, Zendejas make cut"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p><strong>By RONALD BLUM<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Midfielders Gio Reyna and Sebastian Berhalter were included on U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino\u2019s 26-man World Cup roster Tuesday along with winger Alejandro Zendejas, while midfielders Diego Luna of Sunnyvale and Tanner Tessmann were left off.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=569\">Endorsement: Vince Robb is only qualified candidate for Contra Costa County Assessor<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Defender Sergi\u00f1o Dest, midfielder Tyler Adams and forward Haji Wright were added after missing March friendlies because of injuries. Zendejas was bypassed for the March roster after a knee injury last fall.<\/p>\n<p>Players were announced in order of uniform number during a made-for-TV event on the roof of the South Street Seaport\u2019s Pier 17, with the Brooklyn Bridge as a backdrop.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was so painful for me to make the decision,\u201d Pochettino said. \u201cWe cannot talk about the players that did not make the roster.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reyna, a son of former U.S. captain Claudio Reyna, was nearly sent home from the 2022 World Cup by then-coach Gregg Berhalter for lack of hustle and made just four starts this season for Borussia M\u00f6nchengladbach \u2014 none since Dec. 19. He is viewed by Pochettino as a \u201cspecial player.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sebastian Berhalter, a 25-year-old son of the former coach, made his national team debut last June and became the Americans\u2019 best corner-kick taker.<\/p>\n<p>Players dropped who had been on the March roster included goalkeeper Patrick Schulte along with Tessmann and fellow midfielder Aidan Morris. Two players were sidelined by recent injuries: midfielder Johnny Cardoso (right ankle surgery) and forward Patrick Agyemang (torn right Achilles). Defender Cameron Carter-Vickers is recovering from a torn Achilles in October.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Luna, who spent time in the San Jose Earthquakes\u2019 academy as a child, missed the March matches because of a knee injury after playing in 17 of 18 international games last year.<\/p>\n<h4>Who is back from 2022?<\/h4>\n<p>Half the roster returns from the last World Cup: goalkeeper Matt Turner; Dest and fellow defenders Tim Ream, Antonee Robinson and Joe Scally; Adams and fellow midfielders Weston McKennie, Reyna and Cristian Roldan; and forwards Brenden Aaronson, Christian Pulisic, Tim Weah and Wright.<\/p>\n<p>Defenders Chris Richards and Miles Robinson were picked after injuries caused them to miss the 2022 tournament, where the U.S. was eliminated by the Netherlands in the round of 16. Richards, who missed the event because Crystal Palace in Wednesday\u2019s Europa Conference League final, is a health concern after tearing two left ankle ligaments on May 17.<\/p>\n<p>Pochettino said he won\u2019t know Richards\u2019 status until he arrives in the U.S. for training.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Among the final cuts four years ago, Ricardo Pepi made it this time.<\/p>\n<p>Players from 2022 left off included goalkeepers Ethan Horvath and Sean Johnson; Carter-Vickers and fellow defenders Aaron Long, Shaq Moore, DeAndre Yedlin and Walker Zimmerman; midfielders Kellyn Acosta, Luca de la Torre and Yunus Musah; and forwards Jes\u00fas Ferreira, Jordan Morris and Josh Sargent.<\/p>\n<p>This year\u2019s average age of 26 years, 332 days as of the U.S. opener is up from 25-216 four years ago and the fifth-youngest for an American World Cup roster, also older than 1930, 1990 and 1994.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=567\">Nick Spinner, Contra Costa County assessor candidate, answers Bay Area News Group\u2019s primary questionnaire<\/a><\/p>\n<h4>Where are players from?<\/h4>\n<p>Just eight players were taken from Major League Soccer, the fewest since four in 2010, and no MLS attacking players were chosen.<\/p>\n<p>Five players are based in England, three each in Germany\u2019s Bundesliga and France\u2019s Ligue 1, two apiece in Italy\u2019s Serie A and the Dutch Eredivisie, and one each in Mexico, Scotland and Spain.<\/p>\n<p>Pulisic, the top American player, ended his AC Milan season scoreless in 19 games since Dec. 28 and has gone eight U.S. matches without a goal since November 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Pochettino\u2019s three strikers finished their club seasons in form, combining for 56 goals: Folarin Balogun and Pepi scored 19 each and Wright 18.<\/p>\n<p>For the first time since 1990, no American goalkeepers are from European clubs.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. opens against Paraguay on June 12 at Inglewood, California, plays Australia one week later at Seattle and closes Group D with a match against Turkey on June 26 in Inglewood. The top two teams in each of 12 groups advance to the new round of 32 in the expanded 48-nation tournament along with the eight third-place nations.<\/p>\n<p>Ream could become the oldest American to appear in a World Cup at 38 years, 250 days when the U.S. plays its opener, older than defender Fernando Clavijo when the U.S. was knocked out by Brazil in 1994\u2019s round of 16.<\/p>\n<p>Defender Alex Freeman, a son of former Super Bowl champion Antonio Freeman, is the youngest player at 21.<\/p>\n<p>No. 3 goalkeeper Chris Brady is the first player on the U.S. World Cup roster with no international experience since backup goalkeeper Juergen Sommer in 1994.<\/p>\n<p>The roster:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Goalkeepers:<\/strong> Chris Brady (Chicago), Matt Freese (New York City), Matt Turner (New England)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Defenders:<\/strong> Max Arfsten (Columbus), Sergi\u00f1o Dest (PSV Eindhoven), Alex Freeman (Villarreal), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse), Tim Ream (Charlotte), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Antonee Robinson (Fulham), Miles Robinson (Cincinnati), Joe Scally (Borussia M\u00f6nchengladbach), Auston Trusty (Celtic)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Midfielders:<\/strong> Tyler Adams (Bournemouth), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Gio Reyna (Borussia M\u00f6nchengladbach), Cristian Roldan (Seattle), Malik Tillman (Bayer Leverkusen)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Forwards:<\/strong> Brenden Aaronson (Leeds), Folarin Balogun (Monaco), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan), Tim Weah (Marseille), Haji Wright (Coventry), Alejandro Zendejas (Am\u00e9rica)<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=566\">Kismat Kathrani, Contra Costa County assessor candidate, answers Bay Area News Group\u2019s primary questionnaire<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Luna, who spent time in the San Jose Earthquakes&#8217; academy as a child, missed March friendly matches because of a knee injury after playing in 17 of 18 international games last year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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