Yunus Musah has committed to play for the USMNT on the international stage, as the talented teenage midfielder has given Gregg Berhalter a huge boost.
[ MORE: How to watch PL in the USA ]
Musah, 18, confirmed he will play for the U.S. men’s national team as he has previously played for the England youth teams but was called up by the USMNT in November 2020.
The Valencia midfielder, who can play centrally and out wide, came through the ranks at Arsenal and many believed he would be called up to Gareth Southgate’s England squad, or at least the U21 squad, in the coming months.
Musah, who was born in New York City, was also eligible to play for Italy and Ghana at national team level.
However, the promising talent confirmed to U.S. Soccer that he has selected to play for the Stars and Stripes.
“I think it was pretty clear for me to decide to play for the United States,” Musah said. “First of all, I think it makes sense to represent the country I was born in. The moment I decided to play for the United States came one day when my heart told me that this was the best place for me. The project that we have now and for the future is so exciting, and it’s a great pleasure to be able to be a part of that. I can’t wait to get started.”
How big of a deal is Yunus Musah to the USMNT?
This is huge.
Musah is one of the best young attacking midfielders in the game and at the age of 18 he’s a regular for Valencia in La Liga.
He has shown his passion for the USMNT before, during and after his call-up to the full national team in November, and Berhalter and his coaching staff deserve a lot of praise for pulling this off.
“Yunus is an exceptional talent. For his age, it’s impressive what he can do,” Berhalter said. “When the group first met him, we were immediately drawn to his personality and what a great person he is. When you see him play, you realize there is a ton of talent as well. We’re really excited, because not only is Yunus a player for today, he’s a player for the future.”
https://twitter.com/USMNT/status/1371459861280657410
With Musah joining the USMNT ahead of England and Sergino Dest choosing the USMNT over the Netherlands, this talented young group is getting stronger and dual-nationals are obviously convinced the U.S. men’s national team is heading in the right direction.
Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna, Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams are just a few of the talented stars delivering at some of Europe’s top clubs and you can now add Yunus Musah to that list.
How could USMNT line up for 2022 World Cup?
Now, we all know that qualifying for the next World Cup is the main aim for the USMNT (we shall now mention that fateful night on Couva) but how could they line up in qualifying and for the tournament in Qatar?
Here’s a sneak peek at my projected lineup as we are just under two years out from the tournament kicking off.
----- Steffen -----
--- Dest --- Richards --- Brooks --- Robinson ---
---- McKennie ---- Adams ----
---- Musah ---- Reyna ---- Pulisic ----
----- Sargent -----
Subs: Horvath, Miazga, Cannon, Reynolds, Otasowie, Aaronson, Weah, Dike