Union Homegrown players Jack McGlynn and Nathan Harriel have been named to the United States Men’s National Team training camp in Orlando, Florida from January 8-16 ahead of their upcoming friendly against Slovenia on January 20 at Toyota Field in San Antonio, Texas.
This will mark the first time the pair receive a senior National Team call-up. Last season they were called up to the U23’s in October and November, making their debuts in a 2-1 victory against Mexico’s U23 team on October 11, 2023. McGlynn earned four appearances for the U23’s, registering an assist in a match against Japan’s U23 squad on October 17, and was recently named a finalist for U.S. Soccer’s Young Male Player of the Year. Harriel appeared in all four international friendlies, starting against Mexico, Iraq, and Morocco.
McGlynn, 20, made a career-high 27 appearances (career-high 15 starts) for the Union in 2023, finishing the season with two goals and two assists. The midfielder has made 69 MLS appearances (31 starts), where he registered six assists and scored three goals. Last season, McGlynn notched the game-winning assist against New England Revolution on November 8th to help the team advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals of the Audi 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs. For the third consecutive year, McGlynn held the highest passing percentage (85.8%) among all players on the team with at least 100 passes made, completing 923 passes out of 1076 attempts.
Harriel, 22, made 25 appearances (18 starts) for the Union last season, scoring a goal in the first match of the 2023 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs against New England Revolution on October 28th. The Florida native has made 55 MLS appearances (44 starts) since signing a Homegrown contract in 2020. In 2023, Harriel had the second most interceptions on the team (44) and won the second most tackles (34). In last year’s inaugural Leagues Cup, Harriel made five appearances (three starts), where he scored two goals. His second goal came in the Round of 16 against New York Red Bulls, scoring the equalizer to force a penalty kick shootout where the Union won 4-3 to advance to the Quarterfinals.
The pair joins 23 other MLS-based players in Orlando for the January camp. Following the conclusion of camp on Jan. 16, the team will travel to San Antonio, Texas to open their 2024 schedule with a friendly against Slovenia.
Mcglynns deserved it for a while, good for him. I’ve always preferred harriel over mbaizo but I’m still surprised berhalter chose him. Good for him too.
Multiple thoughts on this… I’ve had conversations with a good buddy about the USMNT… and the arc of development of the game.
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It is a hopeful and expected outcome for some of these MLS guys to get called up to camps and maybe in some cases get caps… as a deepening player pool demands this as a logical outcome.
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… but if anyone thinks Nathaniel Harriel (at this point) has displayed the kind of quality worthy of a National team call up… I’ll tell you another one. I thought Yedlin was nothing but a speed merchant and not really that good ten years ago and he was better then Nathaniel Harriel at his juncture.
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Whatever. Its all very interesting to me. Good for Jack and Nathaniel. Its still a bit perplexing to me.
Not directly related to McGlynn and Harriel, but the Union announced today that Wagner was signed to a 3 year extension with a club option for a 4th.
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Just to throw something out there, I’m wondering if there is any chance he gets citizenship and plays for the US in the World Cup? I’m not sure how deep the US is at left back, but that would certainly have been a potential inducement for him to stay in Philly.