Gio Reyna remains welcome on the U.S. national team despite a lack of club playing time and Noahkai Banks is still undecided whether to commit to the Americans or Germany.<\/p>\n
Reyna was among 27 players picked Tuesday by Mauricio Pochettino for friendlies against Belgium on March 28 and Portugal three days later, the last national team games before the coach announces his 26-man World Cup roster on May 26. Banks, a talented 19-year-old defender, ruled himself out of consideration for the matches in Atlanta.<\/p>\n
A son of former U.S. captain Claudio Reyna, Gio scored in the November friendly Paraguay<\/a> in his first international start in 16 months to surpass his father in international goals, but the midfielder again has had trouble getting playing time with his club. He has just 403 Bundesliga minutes this season for Borussia M\u00f6nchengladbach ,<\/a> none since Jan. 17, and has been slowed by an unspecified muscle injury<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cGio was fantastic in November with us,\u201d Pochettino said during an online news conference. \u201cWe really know that he\u2019s a very special talent and very special player and I think to give the possibility, even if he\u2019s not playing too much in his club, he can be very useful for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Banks made his Bundesliga debut with Augsburg in January 2025 and trained with the U.S. last September but did not get into a match. Pochettino and his assistants have spoken by Zoom and FaceTime with the German-American, who was born in Hawaii and played for U.S. youth national teams.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s thinking and still didn\u2019t make the decision,\u201d Pochettino said. \u201cIn a difficult situation and hope for USA that the decision will be for our side.\u201d<\/p>\n While midfielder Tyler Adams (quadriceps), defender Sergi\u00f1o Dest (hamstring) and forward Haji Wright (groin) will miss the matches, Pochettino was hopeful they will recover in time for World Cup consideration.<\/p>\n Adams, the U.S. captain at the 2022 World Cup, missed Bournemouth\u2019s match against Burnley on Saturday<\/a> and Pochettino expects the midfielder to be sidelined for two to three weeks.<\/p>\n Dest, the top American right back, injured his left leg playing<\/a> for PSV Eindhoven on March 7 and Wright, second in England\u2019s second-tier League Championship with 16 goals, left Coventry\u2019s game against Southampton in the 61st minute on Saturday.<\/p>\n Diego Luna, a 22-year-old midfielder who became a national team regular last year, made his season debut for Major League Soccer\u2019s Real Salt Lake last weekend as a second-half substitute after missing three matches because of a knee injury.<\/p>\n In addition, defender\/midfielder James Sands had ankle surgery Friday<\/a> and is expected to miss the rest of St. Pauli\u2019s season.<\/p>\n Forward Patrick Agyemang, who has 10 goals for second-tier Derby, was selected along with midfielder Johnny Cardoso, who has gotten regular playing time with Atletico Madrid.<\/p>\n Left back Antonee Robinson returns and could make his first appearance since November 2024 after recovering from a knee injury. He is among 10 additions along with several other players who missed November friendlies because of injuries or fitness issues, a group that includes defender Chris Richards, Cardoso and fellow midfielder Malik Tillman, and forwards Christian Pulisic and Tim Weah.<\/p>\n