Jordan Morris is headed back on duty with the U.S. national team for a historic friendly in Cuba this week, the Seattle Sounders forward’s third call into USMNT camp of 2016.
USMNT head coach Jurgen Klinsmann on Sunday unveiled a 23-man roster for the game in Havana, and Morris was one of five forwards selected. It's unclear how many of the players selected for the game in Cuba will stay on for the second game of the international break against New Zealand at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 11.
The two friendlies are the final tuneup matches before CONCACAF World Cup qualifying resumes next month with the two first two games of the Hexagonal – against Mexico on Nov. 11 and at Costa Rica on Nov. 15.
Morris has scored a team-high 12 goals for the Sounders in his rookie season, including four goals in his past five games heading into the team’s matchup against the Vancouver Whitecaps on Sunday. He leads all U.S.-born players in MLS in scoring this year, and he leads the league in game-winning goals (6).
Morris last played for the USMNT during the final two games of the group stage of World Cup qualifying in September. He logged 28 minutes off the bench in the Americans’ decisive 6-0 win over St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Sept. 2 and then another 40 minutes off the bench in a 4-0 win over Trinidad & Tobago on Sept. 6.
He was also called into the team’s January camp and started and logged 88 minutes of the team’s 1-0 win over Canada on Feb. 5.
Former Sounders defender DeAndre Yedlin was also called into U.S. camp.
The Sounders will not play next weekend due to the international break, but they do return to action on Oct. 12 at home against the Houston Dynamo. It’s unclear if Morris will be able to play in that game if he appears in the USMNT’s match on Oct. 11 in Washington.
Sounders midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro is also questionable for the game against Houston after he was recently called in by Uruguay for a pair of CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying matches over the break. Uruguay will host Venezuela on Oct. 6 and play at Colombia on Oct. 11. If he plays against Colombia it’s highly unlikely he would play against the Dynamo a day later.
Sounders defenders Joevin Jones (Trinidad & Tobago) and Oniel Fisher and Damion Lowe (Jamaica) will join the Jamaican team squad as all three face 2017 Caribbean Cup Qualifiers.
Below is the full 23-man roster for the U.S. national team, released Sunday.
U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION:
GOALKEEPERS (3): David Bingham (San Jose Earthquakes), Ethan Horvath (Molde FK), William Yarbrough (Club Leon)
DEFENDERS (7): Steve Birnbaum (D.C. United), John Brooks (Hertha Berlin),Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Timmy Chandler (Eintracht Frankfurt), Omar Gonzalez (Pachuca), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Moenchengladbach), DeAndre Yedlin (Newcastle)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Paul Arriola (Club Tijuana), Alejandro Bedoya (Philadelphia Union), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Lynden Gooch (Sunderland), Perry Kitchen (Hearts), Sacha Kljestan (New York Red Bulls), Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund), Danny Williams (Reading)
FORWARDS (5): Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Julien Green (Bayern Munich), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders FC), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes), Bobby Wood (Hamburg SV)
