Jurgen Klinsmann said after the United States' 1-0 win over Costa Rica on Tuesday night that changes to the US roster would be coming ahead of the Gold Cup knockout stages. On Wednesday, the US head coach certainly made good on his word, making four swaps on his 23-man roster.
Klinsmann, taking advantage of a new provision from CONCACAF that allowed national team coaches to make up to four changes on their roster up to 24 hours of the conclusion of the Gold Cup group stages, added LA Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez, Sporting KC defender Matt Besler (above), Seattle Sounders forward Eddie Johnson and San Jose Earthquakes forward Alan Gordon.
On their way back to their clubs were full back Corey Ashe (Houston Dynamo), center back Oguchi Onyewu (Málaga), striker Herculez Gomez (Tijuana) and striker Jack McInerney (Philadelphia Union).
Besler and Gonzalez formed the first-choice tandem in the center of defense for the US throughout their World Cup qualifying campaign earlier in 2013 while Johnson also contributed, most notably with a goal in the team's 2-0 win over Panama in June. Gonzalez will not join up with the national team, however, until the semfinal stage should the US get there.
Gordon made his US debut last October, coming on as a substitute in a qualifier against Antigua and Barbuda, where he set up Johnson's game-winning goal, but he has not been called up since.
The new additions will get their first crack at the lineup when the US take on El Salvador in Sunday's quarterfinal matchup in Baltimore (4 pm ET, FOX Soccer, live chat on MLSsoccer.com).
Klinsmann was the only coach to use all four allotted changes. Trinidad and Tobago brought in another MLS representative, adding Columbus Crew midfielder Kevan George to their roster in place of Khaleem Hyland.
The only other two quarterfinalists to make changes were Mexico, who replaced defender Darvin Chavez with midfielder Jose Maria Cardenas, and Honduras, who replaced defender Johnny Palacios with defender Erick Norales.
