John Pulskamp Called Up to the U.S. Men’s National Team

In a bit of a surprise for a Friday morning, Sporting Kansas City’s backup goalkeeper, John Pulskamp got the call-up to join the full United States Men’s National Team ahead of their December friendly. It’s an amazing honor for John and shows the promise SKC have at the keeper position.

Of course, this is a roster heavy in guys who have never played, with 12 of the 26 players have zero caps and another two with just a single appearance.

This would be John’s debut, though he’s likely to sit the bench behind New England Revolution keeper Matt Turner. It’s still his first call to the Senior National Team after previously earning calls for the U-20 and U-18 squads.

It’s a little bittersweet for Sporting KC fans since their starting goalkeeper has never had his chance, and obviously won’t, at 35-years-old. That said, I’m willing to bet that Tim Melia is John’s number one supporter on this and will be nothing but a great teammate and his biggest cheerleader. The future looks bright SKC fans.

Schedule

The squad will come to Carson, California ahead of the friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina, which will take place at the LA Galaxy’s stadium on December 18th. The game kicks off at 7:15 PM CST and will be broadcast on FS1, Unimas and TUDN.

Full United States Roster

Below is the full roster, including caps and goal, for the 26 players that coach Gregg Berhalter called in.

“It’s been a great year for the group and our objective is to finish the year with a strong performance against Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Berhalter said. “As we look towards 2022, this camp gives us the opportunity to see some new faces and allows our core domestic players to maintain their fitness levels.”

GOALKEEPERS (3): John Pulskamp (Sporting Kansas City; 0/0), Gabriel Slonina (Chicago Fire; 0/0), Matt Turner (New England Revolution; 12/0)

DEFENDERS (11): George Bello (Atlanta United; 5/0), Justin Che (FC Dallas; 0/0), Jonathan Gomez (Louisville City; 0/0), Kobi Henry (Orange County SC; 0/0), Henry Kessler (New England Revolution; 1/0), Brooks Lennon (Atlanta United; 0/0), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls; 21/3), Kevin Paredes (D.C. United; 0/0), Bryan Reynolds (Roma/ITA; 1/0), Auston Trusty (Colorado Rapids; 0/0), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC; 22/2)

MIDFIELDERS (5): Kellyn Acosta (Colorado Rapids; 44/2), Cole Bassett (Colorado Rapids; 0/0), Johnny Cardoso (Internacional/BRA; 2/0), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders; 29/0), Jackson Yueill (San Jose Earthquakes; 15/0)

FORWARDS (7): Taylor Booth (Bayern Munich II/GER; 0/0), Caden Clark (New York Red Bulls; 0/0), Cade Cowell (San Jose Earthquakes; 0/0), Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas; 4/2), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders; 39/10), Ricardo Pepi (FC Dallas; 6/3), Gyasi Zardes (Columbus Crew; 65/14)