Five members of the current US men's national team squad will return to their respective club teams after Friday's friendly vs. Mexico (8:30 pm ET; FS1, Univision), according to a report from Yahoo! Sports' Doug McIntyre.
The quintet in question is John Brooks (Wolfsburg), Sean Johnson (New York City FC), Alfredo Morales (Fortuna Dusseldorf), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea) and Zack Steffen (Dusseldorf). An early exit would rule them out of Tuesday's friendly vs. Uruguay in St. Louis, but improve their prospects of being fresh, fit and available for their clubs' upcoming matches.
While the four European-based players would be looking ahead to league matches in a week's time, the report states that Johnson, would rejoin NYCFC in time to take part in their MLS match vs. New England at Yankee Stadium on Saturday (3:30 pm ET | Univision, Twitter in US; MLS LIVE on DAZN in Canada), a very short trip from the USMNT's current base in northern New Jersey.
Johnson is expected to serve as a backup to starting goalkeeper Steffen on Friday, and their departures would increase the likelihood of Atlanta United's Brad Guzan earning the start in goal vs. Uruguay.
McIntyre notes that these five are unlikely to be replaced on the US roster, with coach Gregg Berhalter still able to call on 21 players for Tuesday's game at Busch Stadium.
