5 USMNT players with the most to gain against Venezuela and Costa Rica

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida — For a player like John Tolkin, this month’s two national team friendly games seemed like the perfect chance to climb U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino’s depth chart. The 22-year-old left back was coming off a career season in 2024, a year that began with his first senior cap, included a starting role for the U.S. Olympic team at the Paris Games, and culminated with a Cinderella run to the MLS Cup final with his hometown New York Red Bulls.

Tolkin won’t play for the USMNT here on Saturday against Venezuela or next week versus Costa Rica; he left camp on Wednesday and flew to Germany to sign with Bundesliga strugglers Holstein Kiel. Three other 2026 World Cup hopefuls, 2022 squad member Jesús Ferreira, Inter Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender and young CF Montreal central defender Jalen Neal, have all departed South Florida for different reasons, leaving Pochettino with just 20 remaining players to assess over these two games.

Here are five guys well-positioned to take advantage of the opportunity.

A surprising omission from the 2024 Olympic team, the Illinois native is entering his sixth season with the Fire and has more than MLS regular season appearances under his belt. A technically gifted playmaker, Gutiérrez scored a career-high six goals last year and ably ran the show in Chicago’s midfield after Swiss national team star Xherdan Shaqiri left the club in August.

“I didn’t get the chance to play at the U-20 level and the Olympics, [so] being able to do it at the senior level is honestly a great feeling,” he said on Thursday.

His play in Chicago also caught the attention of Mexico’s national team, for which “Guti” remains eligible. This month at least, his priority is on showing Pochettino what he can do.

“Getting into the picture with the U.S.,” he said, “That’s what my full focus is here.”

Things couldn’t have gone much better for Schulte over the last two years. After leading the Crew’s development team to the MLS Next Pro title, he backstopped the varsity to the 2023 MLS Cup crown and a runner-up finish in Concacaf last year. He also won his first two USMNT caps and started all four games for the Olympic side in France.

He has yet to play under Pochettino, though. Expect that to change on Saturday. If he does well against La Vinotinto and keeps his place, it would be a clear indication that the coach sees Schulte as the best of an MLS crop of keepers that includes fellow January invitees Zack Steffen and the uncapped Matt Freese. With U.S. No. 1 Matt Turner still only getting the occasional cup match in England, that distinction matters.

The youngest player on the Olympic squad, there was some thought that Cremaschi could end up with the U.S. under-20 side this month instead. Yet here he is, back with the senior team for the first time since making his debut under then coach Gregg Berhalter in September 2023.

Cremaschi played north of 600 fewer minutes for Miami last season than during his first as a pro. But his potential is obvious, and he’s getting an all-world education, sharing a locker room with club teammates/Barcelona legends Jordi Albi, Sergio Busquets, Luis Suárez and (of course) Lionel Messi. There’s also a natural connection with Pochettino; Cremaschi was born and raised in Miami to Argentine parents.

With Saturday’s match at Chase Stadium, Inter’s home field, Cremaschi has even more motivation to perform well.  “I’ll definitely have family and friends out here supporting me,” he said last week. “Hopefully I can just make this opportunity count in front of everyone.”

Perhaps the best U.S. performer at the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup, Luna’s failure to make the Olympic squad was more shocking than Gutiérrez. But “Moon Boy” took whatever frustration he felt out on MLS defenses in 2024 with career highs in games, starts, goals and minutes played under RSL coach and USMNT great Pablo Mastroeni. It paid off: in November, Luna took home the MLS Young Player of the Year award.

Now he’s back with the senior team and looking to add to the lone cap he won last January. Luna feels like exactly the sort of player who could thrive under Pochettino. He’s technical, sure, but also wholly unpredictable when he gets into the opponent’s half of the field, with a creative flair that is rare in the American player pool. There’s an edge to his on-field personality, too — a quality that is highly valued by the Argentine manager. 

Like Gutiérrez, Luna is a dual citizen who can also represent Mexico.

As much as January camps are all about serving the youth, this month is a big one for Zimmerman. The 2022 World Cup alum is one of three veteran center backs on the current squad, along with Tim Ream, his partner for three games in Qatar, and Miles Robinson.

Ream and Robinson have both played for Pochettino since he took the U.S. job ahead of last October’s international window. Zimmerman, meantime, is getting his first look under the new boss. With Ream turning 37 later this year and a wide-open field of other candidates in the position, that can’t hurt his chances of staying in the mix alongside his MLS-based brethren and European options like Chris Richards, Mark McKenzie and Cameron Carter-Vickers.

“That’s the unique thing about the national team — it’s never [that] you’re on the team for this year. You’re on the team for this roster, this camp, this training session,” Zimmerman said on Monday.

“It’s always a competition.”

Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports who has covered the United States men’s and women’s national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him at @ByDougMcIntyre.

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