Miles Robinson, Brooks Lennon called up for three crucial USMNT World Cup qualifiers

Two Atlanta United players have been called up by Gregg Berhalter for the USMNT’s all-important three World Cup qualifying matches starting at the end of January. Miles Robinson and Brooks Lennon are the pair of Atlanta defenders called on by the U.S. manager to help guide the team through the next-to-last window of the qualifying cycle.

Robinson’s inclusion on any USMNT roster is a given at this point as the talented defender has proven himself as the best American center back in the world. He’ll continue to be one of the first names on Berhalter’s team sheet for as long as he keeps up his current form.

Brooks Lennon’s name is a bit more surprising considering he’s never appeared for the U.S. at the competitive level. He made his national team debut last month in a domestic-based warm-up camp friendly and appears to have impressed the coach enough to earn this spot.

One interesting and surprising omission from the roster is that of George Bello with the squad only containing one left back. Is his exclusion from the list by coach’s choice or could the upcoming close of the European transfer market have something to do with it? We shall see.

Here is the full roster for the upcoming matches against El Salvador (1/27), Canada (1/30) and Honduras (2/2):

DETAILED ROSTER BY POSITION (CLUB/COUNTRY; CAPS/GOALS)

GOALKEEPERS (4): Sean Johnson (New York City FC; 9/0), Gabriel Slonina (Chicago Fire; 0/0), Zack Steffen (Manchester City/ENG; 26/0), Matt Turner (New England Revolution; 13/0)

DEFENDERS (9): Reggie Cannon (Boavista/POR; 22/1), Sergiño Dest (Barcelona/ESP; 15/2), Brooks Lennon (Atlanta United; 1/0), Mark McKenzie (Genk/BEL; 8/0), Chris Richards (Hoffenheim/GER; 6/0), Antonee Robinson (Fulham/ENG; 19/1), Miles Robinson (Atlanta United; 15/3), DeAndre Yedlin (Galatasaray/TUR; 71/0), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC; 23/2)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Kellyn Acosta (LAFC; 45/2), Tyler Adams (RB Leipzig/GER; 22/1), Luca de la Torre (Heracles/NED; 4/0), Sebastian Lletget (New England Revolution; 33/8), Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA; 28/8), Yunus Musah (Valencia/ESP; 11/0), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders; 30/0)

FORWARDS (8): Brenden Aaronson (Red Bull Salzburg/AUT; 15/5), Paul Arriola (D.C. United; 42/8), Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas; 5/2), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders; 40/10), Ricardo Pepi (Augsburg/GER; 7/3), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea/ENG; 42/17), Tim Weah (Lille/FRA; 18/2), Gyasi Zardes (Columbus Crew; 66/14)