Matt Besler and Sacha Kljestan added to US national team roster

Sacha Kljestan - United States - close up

Bruce Arena made a pair of additions to the US national team roster on Sunday, adding Sporting Kansas City defender Matt Besler and New York Red Bulls midfielder Sacha Kljestan to the roster that will play a pair of World Cup qualifiers later this month.


Kljestan was added as a replacement for injured forward Bobby Wood, who recently suffered a back injury, while Besler joins camp to bolster the USMNT defense.


Both players will join Arena’s 25-man roster in San Jose ahead of the US’s match against Honduras at Avaya Stadium on Friday (10:30 pm ET; FS1, UniMas and UDN, Follow on the MLS App). Kljestan, who will play at Seattle with the Red Bulls on Sunday night (7 pm ET; FS1 in the US; MLS LIVE in Canada), was a part of the USMNT’s January camp, which Besler missed while recovering from an injury.


After taking on Honduras this Friday, the US will travel south to take on Panama in a second World Cup qualifier on Tuesday, March 28.


The full US roster now features 18 MLS players, after three European-based players – Wood, Fabian Johnson and Brad Guzan – had to pull out of camp for various reasons.