Alejandro Zendejas is going to the World Cup. Mauricio Pochettino included the winger on Tuesday in the United States' 26-player roster, bringing him back into the picture after a knee injury kept him out of the March call-up.
Pochettino described Zendejas as a “jugador especial,” and the decision gives the United States one of its most direct wide players for the tournament. The roster announcement also included Gio Reyna and Sebastian Berhalter, while Diego Luna and Tanner Tessmann were left off the list.
Zendejas' selection matters because it reflects how much the squad has changed since March. He was not summoned then after suffering a knee injury in the fall, but he has now done enough to earn a place on the final roster for a team that is trying to settle on its best options before the tournament.
The United States is carrying only eight players from Major League Soccer, the fewest since 2010, a sign that Pochettino has leaned heavily toward players in Europe and elsewhere rather than filling the group with domestic selections. That composition also shows how competitive the roster race has been, with several players returning after injuries while others who were on the March list were pushed out.
For Zendejas, the path back has been the point. He was not available in March because of the knee problem from the previous fall, and now he is among the 26 selected players heading to the World Cup. He was part of the 2022 World Cup cycle as well, but this time he enters the team with a clearer role as an extreme winger in Pochettino's setup.
The biggest question now is how much of a role he gets once the tournament begins on 19 December. With 17 of 18 international matches offering Pochettino a long look at his options, the roster is set, but the choices on the field are still the part that will decide whether Zendejas' return becomes a footnote or one of the defining calls of the campaign.
