Doug McIntyre
Football journalist
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – For a player like John Tolkien, the national team’s two friendlies this month seemed like the perfect opportunity to climb American coach Mauricio Pochettino’s depth chart. The 22-year-old left-back was coming off a career season in 2024, a year that began with his first cap, included a starting role for the US Olympic team at the Paris Games, and culminated with a Cinderella trip to Major League Soccer. Cup final with his hometown New York Red Bulls.
Tolkien will not play for the USMNT here on Saturday against Venezuela or next week against Costa Rica. He left camp on Wednesday and headed to Germany to sign for Bundesliga strugglers Holstein Kiel. Three other 2026 World Cup candidates – 2022 squad member Jesús Ferreira, Inter Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender, and Montreal’s young central defender Jalen Neal – have all left South Florida for various reasons, leaving Pochettino with just 20 players remaining to evaluate for these two matches.
Here are five men well-positioned to take advantage of this opportunity.
A surprising omission from the 2024 Olympic team, the Illinois native enters his sixth season with the Fire and has more than one MLS regular season game under his belt. Gutierrez, a technically gifted playmaker, scored a career-high six goals last year and ran the show brilliantly in Chicago’s midfield after Swiss national team star Xherdan Shaqiri left the club in August.
“I didn’t have the opportunity to play at U-20 level and the Olympics; [so] “To be able to do it at a high level is honestly an amazing feeling,” he said Thursday.
His play in Chicago also attracted the attention of the Mexican national team, for which Guti remains eligible to participate. This month at least, his priority is to show Pochettino what he can do.
“Getting into the picture with the United States, that’s what I’m entirely focused on here,” he said.
Things couldn’t have gone better for Schulte over the past two years. After leading the Crew’s development team to an MLS Next Pro title, he backed Alma mater to the 2023 MLS Cup title and a second-place finish in Concacaf last year. He also won his first two caps for the USMNT and started all four games for France’s Olympic team.
However, he is yet to play under Pochettino. We expect that to change on Saturday. If he plays well against La finotinto And keeping his place, it would be a clear indication that the coach sees Schulte as the best goalkeeper in the MLS, which includes fellow January call-ups Zach Steffen and Matt Freese, who has not previously played. Given that US No. 1 Matt Turner still only makes cup appearances in England, this distinction is important.
The youngest player on the Olympic team, there was a belief that Crimachi could end up with the US Under-20 national team this month instead. However, he is back with the first team for the first time since making his debut under coach Gregg Berhalter in September 2023.
Crimachi played north of 600 fewer minutes for Miami last season than in his first game as a pro. But his potential is clear, he’s getting a world-class education, and he’s sharing a dressing room with teammates/Barcelona legends Jordi Albi, Sergio Busquets, Luis Suarez, and (of course) Lionel Messi. There is also a natural connection with Pochettino; Cremaci was born and raised in Miami to Argentine parents.
And with Saturday’s match at Chase Stadium, Inter’s home stadium, Cremachi has even more motivation to perform well. “I will definitely have family and friends here to support me,” he said last week. “I hope I can take advantage of this opportunity in front of everyone.”
Perhaps the best American performer at the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup, Luna’s failure to make the Olympic team was even more shocking than Gutierrez. But “Moon Boy” has faced all the frustration he felt with MLS defenses in 2024 with career highs in games, starts, goals and minutes played under RSL coach and USMNT great Pablo Mastroeni. It paid off: In November, Luna was named MLS Young Player of the Year.
He is now back in the first team and looking to add to his only win last January. Luna looks like the type of player who could flourish under Pochettino. He is a technical player, certainly, but also completely unpredictable when entering the opposition half, with a creative flair that is rare in the pantheon of American players. There is an edge to his personality on the pitch too, a quality that the Argentine manager values highly.
Like Gutierrez, Luna is a dual citizen and can also represent Mexico.
As much as January camps are about serving youth, this month is a big one for Zimmerman. The 2022 World Cup star is one of three veteran centre-backs in the current squad, alongside Tim Ream, his partner in three matches in Qatar, and Myles Robinson.
Both Ream and Robinson have played with Pochettino since he took over as coach of the American team before the international transfer period last October. Meanwhile, Zimmerman is getting his first look under the new coach. With Ream turning 37 later this year, and plenty of room for other candidates in the position, that can’t affect his chances of remaining in the mix alongside his MLS brothers and European options like Chris Richards and Mark Mackenzie and Cameron Carter. -Vickers.
“This is the unique thing about the national team, which is not the case at all [that] You’re on this year’s team. “You’re on the team for this roster, this camp, this training session,” Zimmerman said Monday.
“It’s always a competition.”
Doug McIntyre is a FOX Sports football writer who covers the events US Men’s and women’s national teams at FIFA World Cup finals on five continents. Follow him on @By Doug McIntyre.
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