Agyemang & Co. make January case for future USMNT involvement

The annual January camp for the U.S. men’s national team has reached its conclusion, and while the full scope of its success or failure won’t be known for some time, the initial reaction is positive. The USMNT came away with wins over Venezuela and Costa Rica by 3-1 and 3-0 scores, respectively. The U.S. looked solid on both sides of the ball, and were deserving of their victories.

Yet the takeaways from these matches skew more towards individual performances than the result, although the two often go hand in hand. And while those initial assessments usually focus on up-and-comers, there is an opportunity for the revival of some international careers that were thought to be dormant. It is those players who often have a better chance of an immediate recall than some of the newbies. That’s as good a spot as any to lead off with in terms of which players were the winners of the camp.

Steffen makes his case to be No. 1

Matt Turner has been solid in his recent USMNT performances, but his lack of playing time with Crystal Palace has left enough of an opening that a goalkeeper hitting top form could make a push to take over. Based on Wednesday’s encounter against the Ticos, Zack Steffen could very well be the player to provide that challenge.

The Colorado Rapids No. 1 certainly has plenty of experience. He was the starter for much of the 2022 cycle before losing his spot to Turner, which was followed by Steffen’s shocking omission from the World Cup roster. The way back has been difficult.

Desperately in need of playing time, and coming off a knee injury, Steffen had to give up on his European dream to return to MLS. There were certainly some early struggles in Colorado, but Steffen has been on U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino’s radar since the Argentine was hired, coming into both of the previous camps, although he didn’t see the field. Given that the January matches were played outside of an international window, an opportunity beckoned against Costa Rica, and Steffen took full advantage.

Steffen’s appearance on Wednesday was his first in a USMNT uniform since the end of 2022 World Cup qualifying, when the Ticos beat the U.S. His memories of this window’s match were far brighter. Steffen delivered three saves on the night, two of which were outstanding efforts to deny Alejandro Bran in the 37th minute and Allan Cruz 11 minutes after halftime.

This is just a first step. As Pochettino put it with regard to all the players in the January camp, “They need to push themselves now, they need to come back to their clubs and be the best.”

Steffen appears to be ready.

A tale of two strikers

Over the course of the two games, the U.S. got excellent performances from both of their No. 9s. Patrick Agyemang tallied in both games, while Brian White opened the scoring against Costa Rica.

Of the two, White is the more polished performer. The timing of his runs is better, and his movements more subtle. That sense of anticipation explains how he’s been able to score 71 goals in 196 league and cup appearances, first with the New York Red Bulls and more recently with the Vancouver Whitecaps.

It makes sense. At age 28, White is entering his eighth professional season compared to Agyemang, who is beginning his third.

Agyemang has the higher upside, though. He’s four years younger, and at 6-foot-4, he has the kind of frame — as well as deceptive mobility — that is a nightmare for defenders to deal with. It’s expected that he’ll become more refined as he adds experience.

RSL pair shine in midfield

If there was one enduring image of this January camp, it was the sight of Diego Luna with cotton stuffed up his nostrils after suffering a broken nose thanks to a wayward elbow from Creichel Perez. Then, just seconds after re-entering the match due to his injury, it was Luna who received the ball in midfield, ran at the Ticos defense, and laid in a perfect through ball for White to latch onto and finish.

Luna’s perseverance personified the competitiveness and spirit that Pochettino has been preaching since he took the job last September.

Afterwards, during a post-game interview with TNT, Pochettino said that Luna had “big balls,” which sent the TNT crew into howls of laughter. In his subsequent interview with the rest of the media, Pochettino’s comments were more G-rated.

“[Luna] showed great character because he wanted to stay,” the U.S. manager said. “He wanted to play.”

The only pity was that Luna did have to come off at halftime due to his injury. Yet his 45-minute stint showed enough for Pochettino to at least keep an eye on the Real Salt Lake midfielder going forward. Luna is ready for the next step, and remains the most intriguing prospect to come out of the January camp.

He was by no means the only midfielder to shine, though.

Emeka Eneli, Luna’s club teammate, was a force in more of a defensive midfield role, providing plenty of steel against a side known for its bite. Eneli also proved adept at connecting his passes, and assisted on the second U.S. goal, a very sharp finish from Caden Clark. That said, Eneli looked a bit labored at times in terms of his recovery defense. It is still preseason for all of these players, which explains why there were some uneven displays from the likes of Matko Miljevic, Indiana Vassilev and Benjamin Cremaschi.

Jack McGlynn proved to be arguably the player of the camp, riding his goal and assist against Venezuela into another composed performance in 45 minutes of work against Costa Rica. Not only was his passing sharp, but his eight recoveries led the team.

Fresh faces emerge to challenge familiar backline

The U.S. defense contained more familiar names than any other part of the field, and Shaq Moore, Tim Ream, Miles Robinson and Walker Zimmerman all acquitted themselves well across two matches. The only goal conceded came from a set piece.

It was a pair of relative newcomers who caught the eye, though. George Campbell looked strong against Venezuela, even when he ventured forward. DeJuan Jones earned his 10th cap, and was given license to get forward as much as possible from left-back. He took advantage, and dazzled with a gorgeous, outside-of-the-foot pass that sprung Agyemang for his stoppage-time tally.

Will it be enough to get called up in March for the Nations League semifinals? Jones finds himself battling a numbers game, as do many of his teammates in this camp. There just don’t appear to be too many spots open, but Pochettino has accumulated plenty of data. For the likes of Steffen, McGlynn, Agyemang and Luna, there is a greater level of comfort at bringing them into the full team should the situation arise.