LINEUP NOTES
USMNT vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina
International Friendly
December 18, 2021
Dignity Health Sports Park; Carson, Calif.
Pre-Game Coverage: 7 p.m. ET on TUDN
Live Game Broadcast: 8 p.m. ET on FS1, UniMás and TUDN
Kickoff: 8:15 p.m. ET
Social Media: @USMNT on Twitter and Instagram; U.S. Soccer on Facebook , The U.S. Soccer App
Tonight’s USMNT Starting XI vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina: 1-Matt Turner; 2-Brooks Lennon, 3-Walker Zimmerman (capt.), 4-Henry Kessler, 5-George Bello, 6-Johnny Cardoso, 7-Jesús Ferreira, 10-Cristian Roldan, 13-Jordan Morris, 16-Ricardo Pepi, 23-Kellyn Acosta
Substitutes: 12-Gabriel Slonina, 8-Jackson Yueill, 9-Gyasi Zardes, 11-Cole Bassett, 14-Auston Trusty, 15-Caden Clark, 17-Justin Che, 18-Jonathan Gomez, 19-Bryan Reynolds, 20-Kobi Henry, 21-Cade Cowell, 22-Taylor Booth
GAME NOTES | FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
- USMNT Starting XI Cap Numbers (including this match): Kellyn Acosta (45), Jordan Morris (40), Cristian Roldan (30), Walker Zimmerman (23), Matt Turner (13), Ricardo Pepi (7), George Bello (6), Jesús Ferreira (5), Johnny Cardoso (3), Henry Kessler (2), Brooks Lennon (1)
- Tonight’s Starting XI has an average age of 24 years exactly, meaning the USMNT Starting XI has averaged 24 or younger in 20 matches this year and under 25 in all 22 contests.
- Six players are 24 or younger: Brooks Lennon (24); Henry Kessler (23); Johnny Cardoso and Jesús Ferreira (20); George Bello (19); Ricardo Pepi (18)
- The Starting XI also averages 15 caps.
- Kellyn Acosta earns his 21st cap of 2021 tonight, marking the most appearances by a USMNT player in a calendar year since 1994. Acosta is the 11th different player to earn 21 or more appearances, but the first to do it outside of the team’s residency years in 1993 and 1994.
- Matt Turner earns his 13th cap tonight, extending the USMNT record for most appearances by a goalkeeper during their debut year. With eight shutouts in 2021, Turner goes into tonight’s match tied with Kasey Keller (2005) for most clean sheets in a calendar year.
- Veteran attacker Jordan Morris will earn his first USMNT appearance since Nov. 19, 2019, against Cuba. Morris steps back on to the field for the USA after missing most of Seattle’s 2021 campaign recovering from a torn ACL. He also missed out on caps during 2020 as the team played an abbreviated schedule caused by the global health pandemic.
- A veteran of the USA’s 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup team, defender Brooks Lennon earns his first USMNT appearance tonight.
- Lennon is the 50th player to earn a USMNT debut under Gregg Berhalter, tying Jurgen Klinsmann’s mark for fourth-most debuts under a USMNT head coach. During tonight’s match, it is possible that Berhalter will move past both Klinsmann and Bora Milutinovic, who oversaw 51 debuts in his tenure as USMNT head coach.
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USMNT Head Coach
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Debuts/Games Coached
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Years
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Bruce Arena
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89/148
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1998-2006; 2017
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Bob Bradley
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60/80
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2007-2011
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Bora Milutinovic
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51/96
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1991-1994
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Gregg Berhalter
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50/43
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2019-present
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Jurgen Klinsmann
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50/98
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2011-2016
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- Along with his debut, Lennon is joined by center back Henry Kessler and midfielder Johnny Cardoso in earning their first USMNT starts.
- Kessler made his first appearances as a late-game sub during the team’s 1-0 extra time win against Mexico in the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup Final on Aug. 1 in Las Vegas.
- Cardoso gets his first start just over a year after earning his first two USMNT caps during the team’s November 2020 friendlies at Wales and against Panama.
- Following his impactful debut to lead the comeback in the USMNT’s 4-1 WCQ win at Honduras on Sept. 8, 18-year-old Ricardo Pepi will make his seventh-straight appearance tonight.
- After playing a part in both of the November qualifiers, Jesús Ferreira earns his second start of 2021. In his previous start, Ferreira earned U.S. Soccer Insiders Man of the Match honors after scoring two goals and providing three assists to help the USA to a 7-0 win against Trinidad and Tobago on Jan. 31.
- Hailing from Pico Rivera, Calif., midfielder Cristian Roldan will make his 30th USMNT appearance tonight in nearby Carson, Calif.
- Walker Zimmerman captains the USMNT for the fourth time tonight. The team is 2-1-0 when the center back has previously worn the armband.
- Five starters were part of the USMNT’s Gold Cup championship roster in the summer: Kellyn Acosta, George Bello, Cristian Roldan, Matt Turner and Walker Zimmerman.
- With teams allowed to dress 23 players, defender Aaron Long and goalkeeper John Pulskamp are healthy scratches from tonight’s squad. Teams are allowed six substitutions in three different moments.
- Keylor Herrera of Costa Rica is the referee for tonight’s match. This is the first time he has officiated a match involving the USMNT.
- Already with a record-tying 16 wins in 2021, a USMNT win tonight would set a new team milestone of 17 wins in a calendar year. Prior to 2021, the team also reached 16 wins in 2013.
- The USMNT holds a 1-0-1 record all-time against Bosnia and Herzegovina. The USA was victorious in the first meeting between the two nations, utilizing a Jozy Altidore hat trick to earn a 4-3 result on Aug. 14, 2013 in Sarajevo.
- The last meeting between the teams ended 0-0 in a match also played at Dignity Health Sports Park on Jan. 28, 2018.
