The U.S. men's team will play a friendly vs. Mexico on Wednesday in Phoenix with a 20-man roster after Mexican League team Puebla refused to release DaMarcus Beasley and Michael Orozco for the match. U.S. team men's coach Jurgen Klinsmann said he was unhappy with Puebla's decision not to release the two U.S. players. • MLS-heavy U.S. squad
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caption:Jurgen Klinsmann said Puebla refused to release DaMarcus Beasley and Michael Orozco for Wednesday's friendly.
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"We got notice from Puebla that they don’t release DaMarcus Beasley and Michael Orozco, which we’d planned on and we are very angry, very angry about this because the Mexican clubs release all their players for this very prestigious friendly," Klinsmann told Univision on Sunday.
The game does not fall on an international calendar date, allowing Puebla to withhold the players.
"For us, World Cup kind of coming up, (it's) very important," he said. "And a team that doesn't play in the CONCACAF Champions League next week, Puebla, which we have a lot of respect for, but they don’t release our two players which are very important players to us -- it makes us upset." U.S. Soccer said via statement that the team will play with a 20-man roster.
"We are very disappointed in the decision by Puebla," said Klinsmann. "When the match was scheduled, it was with the spirit that both teams would have access to their domestic-based players for what is a very important game for those competing for spots in the World Cup. Both MLS and most clubs in Liga MX honored that idea. While we understand their position, it's a huge opportunity lost for DaMarcus and Michael and doesn't contribute to the continuation of this respected rivalry."
The day before the friendly, Cruz Azul plays Tijuana in the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals and Cruz Azul asked Mexico manager Miguel Herrera to keep its goalkeeper, Jesus Corona. The U.S. did not call up its three American internationals on Tijuana either.
The U.S.-Mexico match, the last before the beginning of the pre-World Cup training camp in mid-May.
Goalkeepers: Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
Defenders: Tony Beltran (Real Salt Lake), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Clarence Goodson (San Jose Earthquakes), Michael Parkhurst (Columbus Crew), DeAndre Yedlin (Seattle Sounders FC)
Midfielders: Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Philadelphia Union), Luis Gil (Real Salt Lake), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
Forwards: Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC), Julian Green (Bayern Munich), Eddie Johnson (D.C. United), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.