FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – New England Revolution duo Juan Agudelo and Kelyn Rowe highlight the youthful U.S. Men’s National Team squad that will face third-ranked Portugal on Tuesday, November 14, as the Americans begin to turn the page following the shock of their failed World Cup qualifying campaign one month ago.
At 25 years old, Rowe is actually an elder statesman on this particular USMNT roster, as 12 of the 21 players who’ll travel to Lisbon are 24 years old or younger, including Agudelo (24). The roster features a trio of teenagers in Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams and Josh Sargent.
Similarly, 12 players – including Rowe – have made three or fewer appearances with the full national team, and they’ll be presented with an important chance to make a strong impression as the USMNT focuses long-term on the 2022 World Cup cycle.
“The one word that I would use in reference to all of this is opportunity,” caretaker head coach Dave Sarachan said in U.S. Soccer’s official release. “It’s an opportunity for many players who haven’t been in the picture that we feel have a bright future with the National Team to get to measure themselves in a game against a quality opponent. It’s an opportunity for our National Team to finish out 2017 in a positive way. It’s also just an opportunity to move on. As much as we’re still gutted from how things turned out with qualifying, we have to look ahead and finish out the year the right way.”
Although young, Agudelo and Rowe are no strangers to the U.S. Men’s National Team setup. Agudelo has made 26 appearances with the USMNT since debuting seven years ago, and both were part of the U.S. squad that lifted the CONCACAF Gold Cup trophy this past summer. Rowe registered one goal and one assist in the group stage of that competition as he made his full national team debut.
Tuesday’s friendly will serve as a benefit to those affected by the wildfires in Portugal this past summer, and the match will be broadcast live on FS1, UniMas and UDN at 3:45 p.m. ET.
