FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – When U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Bruce Arena announced his 40-man preliminary roster for this summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup, a pair of New England Revolution players found their names on the list.
One of those players, Juan Agudelo, is something of a USMNT veteran. The 24-year-old forward has scored three goals in 23 appearances with the Nats, most recently suiting up for the Stars and Stripes in a pair of friendlies against Serbia and Jamaica earlier this year.
The other, Kelyn Rowe, is hoping to earn his first full national team call-up after spending years in the U.S. Youth National Team setup. Revs head coach Jay Heaps, who has been singing Rowe’s praises since drafting him 3rd overall in 2012, says an opportunity with the senior national team is long overdue.
“It’s well deserved,” Heaps said of Rowe’s presence on the preliminary roster. “He should be thrilled about being named to that roster; hopefully he makes the (final) roster. For me, he deserves it.”
“I was very happy for the club, first of all, to have two players (on the preliminary roster),” added Agudelo. “Kelyn, he’s done so much hard work to get on this (roster), and he deserves it.”
Making the preliminary roster, of course, is only half the battle. The group of players will be dwindled down from 40 to 23 in the coming weeks, with the final roster for the regional tournament – which runs from July 7-26 – to be announced no later than June 27.
That timeline gives both Agudelo and Rowe added motivation to be in top form ahead of the Revolution’s upcoming matches against the Rochester Rhinos (U.S. Open Cup), Chicago Fire and Toronto FC.
“It was a personal goal of mine at the beginning of the year, so I’m very happy to be on the 40-man roster,” said Agudelo. “But I do want to be on that final roster, which is my main goal.”
“It’s making me push harder and harder each day to make that final 23,” said Rowe. “After that, it’s making the 11 and getting a chance to step on the field, because nothing’s guaranteed. It’s about working a little bit harder. It’s a great accomplishment, but there’s still more to do.”
That’s precisely the approach Heaps wants Rowe to take throughout the next few weeks.
“I want to keep him in the now; keep him focused on playing the games that we have coming up and keep him with that focus,” Heaps said. “Because when he’s focused, I don’t think there’s anyone better for the positions he can play in this league.”
Whether Rowe makes the final 23-man Gold Cup roster or not, his inclusion on the preliminary roster is proof positive that Arena is keeping tabs on the Revs’ dynamo, and should Rowe continue on his current trajectory, it won’t be long before he finds himself suiting up for the Stars and Stripes.
“It’s obviously a goal of mine,” Rowe said. “To be this close to reaching it is pretty great.”
