Assistant coach to take charge in upcoming US friendlies

CHICAGO (AP):

Assistant Mikey Varas will be interim US coach for exhibitions against Canada and New Zealand while a deal hasn’t been announced for Mauricio Pochettino to succeed Gregg Berhalter.

Varas picked a 24-man roster yesterday that includes Barcelona youth system goalkeeper Diego Kochen and Standard Liege defender Marlon Fossey, who have not played for the national team.

Injured players who will miss the matches include right back Sergiño Dest, midfielder Tyler Adams, and winger Tim Weah. Defenders Antonee Robinson and Cameron Carter-Vickers and midfielder Weston McKennie were bypassed to remain with their clubs.

The US play Canada on Saturday at Kansas City, Kansas, then face New Zealand three days later at Cincinnati.

Berhalter was fired on July 10, a week after the Americans were eliminated in the first round of the Copa America. The US Soccer Federation (USSF) began negotiations more than two weeks ago with Pochettino, a former Tottenham and Chelsea manager.

Varas is a former Dallas assistant and was coach of the US under-20 team from November 2021 until August 2023, when he became one of Berhalter’s assistants. The 41-year-old led the US to the 2022 Concacaf title, earning the Americans’ first men’s Olympic berth since 2008, and to the quarterfinals of the 2023 Under-20 World Cup, where they lost to Uruguay 2-0.

The USSF said its plan had been for Varas to run the team in the September games. Two previous Berhalter assistants became interim coaches last year: Anthony Hudson and B.J. Callaghan.

Six players on the roster were not with the US at the Copa America: Kochen, Fossey, goalkeeper Patrick Schulte, defenders Auston Trusty and Caleb Wiley, and midfielder Aidan Morris.

Eight players were dropped: goalkeeper Sean Johnson, defenders Miles Robinson and Shaq Moore along with Carter-Vickers, Antonee Robinson, Adams, McKennie and Weah.

Goalkeeper Matt Turner was included after going on loan Friday from Nottingham Forest to Crystal Palace. Turner, the US starter the past two years, lost his starting job at Forest in February following a series of weak goals and didn’t dress for the first two Premier League games this season.

Ethan Horvath, another goalkeeper on the roster, made a blunder that led to the first goal in a 5-0 defeat at Burnley on August 17. Horvath kicked at and missed a back pass, allowing the ball to bounce into the goal.

In selecting Schulte and Kochen, Varas bypassed Colorado’s Zack Steffen, who hasn’t played for the Americans since their final World Cup qualifier in March 2022. Schulte and Tim Ream, who transferred to Charlotte from Fulham, are the only players from Major League Soccer.