A month after his record Premier League transfer, Utah native and former Real Salt Lake star Zavier Gozo earned his first call-up to the U.S. men's national team.
Head coach Mauricio Pochettino released his 28-player roster for the team's upcoming four matches in September and October on Thursday. Notably, the roster did not include Christian Pulisic and 12 other players who made the World Cup roster.
"I think the 28 players that are going to be involved in this four games for different circumstance are the best player that or the player that we want to see and we want to play, we want to work," Pochettino said in a U.S. Soccer press conference Thursday.
Real Salt Lake midfielder Zavier Gozo speaks as he's interviewed by the Deseret News at America First Field in Sandy after team practice on Friday, May 1, 2026. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Thirteen players on the roster, including Gozo, have never played for the national team before. Pochettino said this camp and these four games are an opportunity for those players to "show their quality and start to build their career for the next generation of that country."
This is the first camp since the U.S.'s Round of 16 exit in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Gozo was in contention for a World Cup roster spot, despite never playing for the senior national team, but ultimately didn't make the final roster. In August, Gozo transferred from Real Salt Lake to Crystal Palace in the Premier League for a club record transfer fee of $15 million.
"From now, if these guys are here and perform in the way that we expect, they are going to have the opportunity maybe to keep playing," Pochettino said.
Pochettino described the U.S. team as "an open system" and brought up Spain 's young star Lamine Yamal as an example of skill being a more important factor than age.
"Now is a great opportunity for everyone that is going to be involved in to keep their place, and that is the mentality that we want to build in this process in this four years" he said.
Pochettino continued by saying that past performances for the team are not enough to make a roster because "soccer is about today" as the team builds toward the 2028 Olympics and 2030 FIFA World Cup.
Portland Timbers midfielder Cole Bassett (17) and Real Salt Lake midfielder Zavier Gozo (72) kick as Real Salt lake and Portland Timbers play at America First Field in Sandy on Saturday, May 2, 2026. Real won 2-0. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
"Now is a fresh start, is a new start," he said. "Of course, all have the door open. But now is not what I did in the past."
Players on the Olympic roster must be born on or after Jan. 1, 2005, with the exception of three players per team. Gozo meets that criteria. The goal for that team is to win gold, according to Pochettino.
"When we were talking about to extend (my) contract, also the federation also asked (me) to help a little bit to build, to arrive at the 2028 Olympic Games working very closely with Steve (Cherundolo), with the under 23s, with all the youth … to try to build that experience to arrive at the Olympic Games with the possibility to have that experience that can provide a gold medal," Pochettino said.
The following 28 players were called up to the September and October U.S. men's national team camp:
Goalkeepers
Defenders
George Campbell
Sergiño Dest
Neil Pierre
Frankie Westfield
Midfielders
Mathis Albert
Forwards
In this next camp, the U.S. men's national team will play in four games across the country on the following dates:
