CHICAGO (Jan. 17, 2025)—The U.S. Men’s National Team is kicking off a pivotal 2025 with its traditional January camp and a pair of intriguing friendlies, beginning with Saturday afternoon’s match against Venezuela at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Coach Mauricio Pochettino’s fifth game in charge will be the USMNT’s first against Venezuela since 2019. Kickoff is at 3 p.m. ET and the match will be broadcast by TNT, Telemundo, Universo, Max, Peacock and Fútbol de Primera radio. Tickets are available here.
The build toward the 2026 World Cup will be anchored this year by the Concacaf Nations League final four in March and then, critically, the Concacaf Gold Cup in June and July. But it begins in Florida, where Pochettino will have an opportunity to assess a cohort of domestic prospects (and one from Argentina) hoping to solidify or advance their position on the USMNT depth chart.
January camp will conclude with a showdown against Concacaf rival Costa Rica on Jan. 22 at Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando. Tickets are available here.
Fans are also encouraged to follow the action during the match on social media. You can stay up-to-date by following @USMNT on X and Instagram and U.S. Soccer on Facebook.
DETAILED USA ROSTER BY POSITION (Club/Country; Caps/Goals)
GOALKEEPERS (3): Matt Freese (New York City FC; 0/0), Patrick Schulte (Columbus Crew; 2/0), Zack Steffen (Colorado Rapids; 29/0)
DEFENDERS (7): Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew; 0/0), George Campbell (CF Montréal; 0/0), DeJuan Jones (Columbus Crew; 8/0), Shaq Moore (FC Dallas; 19/1), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC; 66/1), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati; 30/3), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC; 41/3)
MIDFIELDERS (4): Benjamin Cremaschi (Inter Miami; 1/0), Emeka Eneli (Real Salt Lake; 0/0), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake; 1/0), Jack McGlynn (Philadelphia Union; 1/0)
FORWARDS (6): Patrick Agyemang (Charlotte FC; 0/0), Caden Clark (CF Montréal; 0/0), Brian Gutiérrez (Chicago Fire; 0/0), Matko Miljevic (Huracán/ARG; 0/0), Indiana Vassilev (St. Louis City; 0/0), Brian White (Vancouver Whitecaps; 1/0)
JANUARY CAMP: THE WINTER SPRINGBOARD
For more than a quarter century, U.S. Soccer has been leveraging the long MLS offseason to bolster the USMNT player pool. While the competitive stakes aren’t usually as high during winter matches played outside FIFA’s international windows (the 2002 Gold Cup and a 2006 World Cup qualifier were exceptions), the long-term rewards can be life changing.
January camp offers players who may be young, inexperienced or on the fringe of the USMNT picture the chance to train and play in a national team environment. It’s an opportunity to get seen and prove themselves. A good January camp has kickstarted the international career of numerous USMNT legends.
Since the beginning of the 2002 World Cup cycle, 30 men who earned their first or second senior cap during a January/winter camp went on to make a World Cup roster. Seventeen of those 30 made the World Cup squad at the end of the same cycle. Among the 26 players who went to Qatar in 2022, nine won their first or second cap at a January camp.
The 30 American players who earned their first or second cap during a winter camp and then made a World Cup squad (January camp year; World Cup years):
Brenden Aaronson (2020; 2022), Kellyn Acosta (2016; 2022), Tyler Adams (2018; 2022), Jozy Altidore (2008; 2010, 2014), DaMarcus Beasley (2001; 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014), Kyle Beckerman (2007; 2014), Alejandro Bedoya (2010; 2014), Matt Besler ((2013; 2014), Carlos Bocanegra (2002; 2006, 2010), Jonathan Bornstein (2007; 2010), Geoff Cameron (2010; 2014), Ricardo Clark (2007; 2010), Clint Dempsey (2005; 2006, 2010, 2014), Mix Diskerud (2011; 2014), Landon Donovan (2001; 2002, 2006, 2010), Jesús Ferreira (2020; 2022), Omar Gonzalez (2011; 2014), Brad Guzan (2006; 2010, 2014), Sean Johnson (2011; 2022), Carlos Llamosa (1999; 2002), Clint Mathis (1999; 2002), Ben Olsen (1999; 2006), Tim Ream (2011; 2022), Nick Rimando (2003; 2014), Cristian Roldan (2018; 2022), Matt Turner (2021; 2022), Chris Wondolowski (2011; 2014), DeAndre Yedlin (2014; 2014), Walker Zimmerman (2017; 2022), Graham Zusi (2012; 2014)
AGAINST VENEZUELA
The USA holds a 3W-1L-2D record in the all-time series against Venezuela. The six meetings are fewer than the number of matches between the USA and any of the other nine CONMEBOL members.
Only one of the six came in official competition, and it was the first. The USA made its Copa América debut at the 1993 tournament in Ecuador and lost group stage games to Uruguay and the hosts. But the Americans remained alive for a quarterfinal berth thanks to the competition’s forgiving 12-team format. Their prospects improved when goals by Chris Henderson, Alexi Lalas and Dominic Kinnear lifted the U.S. to a 3-0 lead in Quito. But Venezuela recovered and scored in the 68th, 80th and 89th minutes to earn a 3-3 draw and send the USA home.
The next meeting came nearly a decade later in March 2003, when Landon Donovan and Jovan Kirovski scored in a 2-0 friendly win in Seattle. In May 2006, the Americans captured a World Cup warmup in Cleveland, 2-0, with goals by Clint Dempsey and Brian Ching. Glendale, Ariz. was the site of a January camp match in 2012, which the USA won, 1-0, behind a stoppage-time header from Ricardo Clark.
La Vinotinto turned the tables in the next two games, however. They forced the USA to settle for a 1-1 draw in a 2017 friendly in Sandy, Utah (Christian Pulisic’s equalizer was his fifth USMNT goal), then earned their first win over the Americans with a 3-0 triumph in Cincinnati on June 9, 2019. The most recent match between the sides was punctuated by a 20-minute, first-half stretch during which Salomón Rondón (two) and Jefferson Savarino notched Venezuela’s three goals.
THE USMNT IN SOUTH FLORIDA
Saturday's game will be just the second for the USMNT at Chase Stadium, but the program has a long history in South Florida.
The USA routed El Salvador, 6-0, in its previous visit to Inter Miami’s home ground, a Dec. 9, 2020 friendly at which the crowd was limited to 2,500 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Chris Mueller (two) and Ayo Akinola scored on their debuts, and Brenden Aaronson tallied his first USMNT goal early in the second half.
Overall, the USA is 8W-12L-8D in South Florida (4W-0L-1D in Fort Lauderdale), dating back to a 0-0 Concacaf Championship/World Cup qualifier against Canada in October 1980 that was played at Lockhart Stadium, which occupied the site where Chase now sits.
The USA went 3W-0L-1D at Lockhart, including a 2-1 win over Mexico in the November, 1980 qualifying finale (the Americans were already eliminated) that marked the USA’s first victory over El Tri in 46 years.
The USMNT played once to the north in Boca Raton, a 1-1 exhibition draw with Honduras in October 2014. The remainder were in the Miami area. From 1986 through 2004, the USA went 3W-8L-5D at the old Orange Bowl stadium, which is now the site of the Miami Marlins’ ballpark. From 1990 through 2011, the USA contested six matches at what is now Hard Rock Stadium, the home of the Miami Dolphins, going 1W-4L-1D.
ROSTER UPDATE
The original 24-man January camp squad was trimmed by three players on Jan. 15 as forward Jesús Ferreira and defenders Jalen Neal and John Tolkin departed for unrelated reasons.
Ferreira returned to his new club, the Seattle Sounders, with an individual training program he’ll use to prepare for the MLS campaign. Neal was experiencing a minor issue and left to join his new team, CF Montréal, for preseason training. Tolkin was given permission to leave camp as his transfer from the New York Red Bulls to Germany’s Holstein Kiel was being finalized.
The squad was further depleted Jan. 16 when goalkeeper Drake Callender returned to Inter Miami CF to receive treatment for a minor muscle injury.
LAST TIME OUT
The USA sealed its place in both the 2025 Concacaf Nations League final four and the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup with a pair of victories over Jamaica in mid-November. The two-leg Nations League quarterfinal series represented the first competitive action under Pochettino and would go a long way toward defining the year ahead. An aggregate goals victory would send the Americans to both the Nations League finals and the Gold Cup. Defeat would consign them to a Gold Cup qualifying playoff.
The USA put its stamp on both contests early. In the Nov. 14 opener, Ricardo Pepi calmed the Kingston crowd with a fifth-minute goal, and goalkeeper Matt Turner helped the visitors maintain their advantage by saving Demarai Gray’s penalty kick shortly thereafter.
The USA held a 1-0 aggregate edge going into the Nov. 18 decider in St. Louis. There, Christian Pulisic, Pepi and a Reggae Boyz own goal staked the hosts to a commanding, three-goal halftime lead. The USMNT held on to win the match, 4-2—Tim Weah notched the fourth—and the series, 5-2.
The USA closed out 2024 with a 6W-6L-2D record, and it is now 3W-1L-0D under Pochettino (2W-0L-0D on home soil).
The USMNT is currently ranked 16th in the world by FIFA.
ROSTER NOTES
Twenty of the 21 players in camp are on the books at 14 different MLS clubs. The Columbus Crew leads with three selections, followed by Charlotte FC, Inter Miami, CF Montréal and Real Salt Lake with two each.
Matko Miljevic is the only non-MLS player. The 23-year-old Miami native and former CF Montréal midfielder spent most of 2024 with Newell’s Old Boys (where Pochettino played in 1989-1994) in his parents’ native Argentina. He then signed with Buenos Aires club Huracán this month.
Center backs Miles Robinson and Walker Zimmerman are the leading goal scorers on a young U.S. squad with three apiece. Robinson’s most recent USMNT goal was among the most significant in team history—the 117th-minute trophy-clincher in the 2021 Gold Cup final against Mexico (he also struck in the 7-0 January camp win over Trinidad & Tobago in 2021). Defenders Tim Ream and Shaq Moore have also scored for the USA (one each).
Center back Tim Ream is the leading cap winner on the roster with 66, followed by Walker Zimmerman (42) and Miles Robinson (30).
Ream, 37, has worn the captain’s armband in each of Mauricio Pochettino’s first four games in charge. The USMNT is 10W-3L-1D all-time with Ream as captain.
The ten midfielders and forwards have a combined four career USMNT appearances. There are ten uncapped players on the January camp roster and an additional four players with one.
Seven players are participating in their first USMNT camp: Patrick Agyemang, Max Arfsten, George Campbell, Emeka Eneli, Brian Gutiérrez, Matko Miljevic, and Indiana Vassilev.
There are eight capped players on the roster who made their first or second USMNT appearance during a January camp. The full list: Tim Ream (Jan. 28, 2011 vs. Chile; 2nd), Walker Zimmerman (Feb. 3, 2017 vs. Jamaica; 1st), Zack Steffen (Jan. 28, 2018 vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina; 1st), DeJuan Jones (Jan. 25, 2023 vs. Serbia; 1st) and Diego Luna, Jack McGlynn, Patrick Schulte and Diego Luna (all Jan. 20, 2024 vs. Slovenia; 1st).
Center back Walker Zimmerman, a 2022 World Cup veteran played the full 90 minutes and was named man of the match in his USMNT debut, a Feb. 3, 2017 winter camp friendly against Jamaica in Chattanooga, Tenn. The USA won, 1-0, on a goal by Jordan Morris.
Zimmerman, 31, last played for the USMNT in the 2023 Concacaf Nations League Final win over Canada on June 19, 2023.
Goalkeeper Zack Steffen, 29, last played for the USMNT on March 31, 2022 in a 2-0 World Cup qualifying loss at Costa Rica (the Americans clinched their spot in Qatar that evening). He won the 2024 Leagues Cup Best Goalkeeper honor backstopping the third-place Colorado Rapids.
Forward Patrick Agyemang, 24, was playing NCAA Division III soccer for Eastern Connecticut State five years ago. After two seasons as a Warrior, he transferred to Rhode Island, scored 19 goals in two years and was drafted by Charlotte FC. He then tallied 10 goals and five assists in 34 MLS appearances in 2024, his second pro campaign.
Five members of the team were part of the U.S. squad that advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2024 Olympic tournament in France: Goalkeeper Patrick Schulte, defenders Miles Robinson and Walker Zimmerman, and midfielders Benjamin Cremaschi and Jack McGlynn.
Fifteen players are products of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, with 10 developed by MLS clubs: Max Arfsten (California Odyssey), George Campbell (Atlanta United), Caden Clark (Minnesota Thunder, Barca Academy), Benjamin Cremaschi (Weston FC, Inter Miami), Emeka Eneli (Columbus Crew), Matt Freese (Philadelphia Union), Brian Gutiérrez (Chicago Fire), Diego Luna (San Jose Earthquakes), Jack McGlynn (BW Gottschee, Philadelphia Union), Shaq Moore (FC Dallas), Miles Robinson (FC Boston Bolts), Patrick Schulte (Saint Louis FC), Zack Steffen (FC DELCO, Philadelphia Union), Indiana Vassilev (IMG Academy), Brian White (Players Development Academy).
USA-VENEZUELA NOTES
Tim Ream, Zack Steffen and Walker Zimmerman all took part in the 3-0 defeat to Venezuela on June 9, 2019 at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati. Steffen played the full 90 minutes in net and made one save. Ream started in back and was replaced by Daniel Lovitz in the second half, while Zimmerman came on for Aaron Long after halftime.
Ream also played 27 minutes as a substitute in the June 2017 friendly between the teams, a 1-1 draw in Sandy, Utah.
La Vinotinto goalkeeper WuilkerFaríñez made four saves and earned the shutout that day in Cincinnati. The 26-year-old was a national team regular in 2017-22 and started at the 2019 Copa América. A 2022 knee injury derailed his progress and he now has the opportunity to earn his first cap since June 2022.
Venezuela has enjoyed a relatively successful history on U.S. soil, apart from its games against the USMNT. While it has won just 11 Copa América matches overall, five of those victories came during the 2016 and 2024 tournaments hosted by the U.S.
Mauricio Pochettino was credited with his only national team assist in his only appearance against Venezuela, a 5-0 World Cup qualifying romp in March 2001. Pochettino knocked a short, 85th-minute pass toward Walter Samuel, who headed home Argentina’s fifth and final goal at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires.
VENEZUELA OF LATE
The only one of CONMEBOL’s 10 members that hasn’t reached a World Cup, Venezuela is near the top of any list of nations hoping to benefit from the event’s expansion to 48 teams.
La Vinotinto’s2026 qualifying journey started well, as it concluded 2023 with a 2W-1L-3D record in CONMEBOL’s marathon round-robin, good for fourth place. Then, an unprecedented 3W-0L-0D run through the group stage of the 2024 Copa América appeared to confirm Venezuela’s arrival.
But its fortunes have dipped since. Canada won the Copa quarterfinal on penalties, and La Vinotinto then went winless in six straight World Cup qualifiers to close out 2024. The 0W-3L-3D slide dropped them to eighth in the CONMEBOL table (2W-4L-6D), one point out of the intercontinental playoff spot, and four points behind sixth-place Paraguay and the last automatic World Cup berth.
Venezuela has slipped 10 places in FIFA’s ranking since the Copa América, falling from 37th in July to 47th.
The team that takes the field against the USA in Fort Lauderdale will be younger and less experienced than the one contesting World Cup qualifiers, which is typical for winter friendlies falling outside a FIFA window. Saturday’s match will be about searching for prospects who might supplement the first-choice squad when qualifying resumes in March, rather than reversing momentum.
AT THE HELM
Like the USA, La Vinotinto employ an Argentine as head coach. Fernando Batista, 54, was an Argentine youth national team coach when he joined former Venezuela manager José Pékerman’s staff in late 2021.
A retired defender, Batista previously coached Argentina’s U-20 and U-23 national sides, succeeding Lionel Scaloni with the former. Batista was in charge at both the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland and the delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Although Argentina’s results at both events were disappointing, Batista was in position to help develop future World Cup winners Julián Álvarez, Alexis Mac Allister and Thiago Almada while working with several others.
Pékerman was dismissed by Venezuela in March 2023 and his countryman, Batista, was promoted. La Vinotinto kicked off its 2023 slate with a 2-1 friendly victory over Saudi Arabia in Jeddah and now are 8W-5L-9D under Batista (5W-4L-7D in official competition.)
Before succeeding Pékerman, Batista had never coached senior players. He worked with the youth at San Lorenzo and Argentinos Juniors from 2004 to 2016, spent a year in Armenia then returned to Argentina to take over the U-20s. Batista won an Argentine Primera División title as a San Lorenzo player in 1995 and a gold medal at the 2019 Pan American Games as Argentina’s U-23 coach.
DETAILED VENEZUELA ROSTER BY POSITION (Club/Country; Caps/Goals)
GOALKEEPERS (2): WuilkerFeríñez (Caracas FC; 40/0), Javier Otero (Orlando City/USA; 1/0)
DEFENDERS (8): Anthony Graterol (Sol de América/PAR; 0/0), Thomás Gutiérrez (SportivoAmeliano/PAR; 0/0), Ronald Hernández (Atlanta United/USA; 33/1), Francisco La Mantía (Caracas FC; 3/0), Rubén Ramírez (unattached; 3/1), Carlos Rojas (Deportivo La Guaira; 0/0), Roberto Rosales (Deportivo Táchira; 95/1), Carlos Vivas (Deportivo Táchira; 1/0)
MIDFIELDERS (10): Juan Pablo Añor (Caracas FC; 27/1), Maurice Cova (Deportivo Táchira; 0/0), Erickson Gallardo (Monagas; 3/0), Matías Lacava (unattached; 1/0), Gleiker Mendoza (Angostura; 0/0), Júnior Moreno (unattached; 41/1), Bryant Ortega (Al Ittihad/KSA; 0/0), Daniel Pereira (Austin FC/USA; 5/0), Edson Tortolero (Carabobo; 0/0), Jorge Yriarte (Real Murcia/ESP; 0/0)
FORWARDS (4): Jovanny Bolívar (KolosKovalivka/UKR; 0/0), Bryan Castillo (Deportivo Táchira; 0/0), Saúl Guarirapa (CSKA Moscow/RUS; 0/0), Jan Hurtado (Atlético Goianiense/BRA; 10/0)