This is the reason why Pulisic isn’t on Pochettino’s list for USMNT friendly games in January

New US national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino has announced his squad for the two forthcoming friendly games lined up for January in Florida.

The USMNT face Venezuela at Inter Miami’s Chase Stadium (Saturday, 18 January) with the test against Costa Rica coming the following Wednesday (22 January) in Orlando.

A glance at the Argentine’s squad could prompt many to question why the coach has opted to call up almost exclusively MLS based players but there is a simple reason for the lack of big name stars in the US list.

FIFA international calendar

These two games have been organised by US Soccer (at Pochettino’s request) in conjunction with both the Costa Rican and Venezuelan FA’s and because the games fall outside FIFA’s international window, the USMNT’s Europe-based stars will not participate as there is no obligation from their clubs for their release.

The first sanctioned FIFA international window of 2025 is 17-25 March.

This is why the likes of Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie or Antonee Robinson are not on the squad list with the games offering the Argentine coach to look at newer or fringe players in a competitive environment.

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