Klinsmann eyes Green, Yedlin in Europe matches
Rising young stars Julian Green and DeAndre Yedlin will be given a chance to show USA coach Jurgen Klinsmann what they can do on a short European tour.
Klinsmann's side will play friendlies in Denmark on Wednesday and Switzerland on 31 March and 19-year-old midfielder Green, who scored on his first FIFA World Cup™ touch in Brazil last year, and Yedlin, a 21-year-old defender, were named in a 23-man squad on Sunday.
"I think there are certain younger players that can gain the most right now if they are with me," Klinsmann said in comments posted on the U.S. Soccer's official website.
"I think it's important for our players to see that we have a plan for them, that we're looking at their club situation and that we understand the up-and-downs and their struggles, and they know we are here to help them."
Green was loaned from Bayern Munich to Hamburg this season but has seen little action with the Bundesliga club, while Yedlin joined Tottenham Hotspur in January but has yet to break into the English Premier League team's line-up.
"For Julian, it's important that he has reconnected with us. At the moment Julian struggles with Hamburg. It has been a very, very difficult time since he came back after the World Cup, with injuries and not breaking in yet, so I decided to have a first look at him.
"We will have a serious talk and serious look at him and we want to understand exactly what happened in his club situation, but also he needs some support from the national team group. At the end of the day, you have got to break through, no matter what. Deandre Yedlin, you have got to kick somebody out of Tottenham to play there.
"Julian Green, you have got to kick somebody out in Hamburg to play there. So the message is the same to all of them. It's not only what happens on the field, it's also what happens off the field. You have young players getting in a different environment, struggling maybe with a new country with a new club environment, so we're also there to help them develop."
The Americans are working out in Europe while conducting a camp with the US U-23 side looking to qualify for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and an U-20 squad preparing for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand starting 30 May.
"It's great to be involved at these levels because you get exposed to different types of teams," USA striker Jozy Altidore said. "All these things prepare you for what's to come."
In the senior team's case, that means preparing for July's CONACAF Gold Cup, the North American tournament in which a title for the host US side will clinch a 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup berth.
"We want to prove that we can really compete with these guys in their countries and get results there," said Klinsmann. We want to see a lot of energy, we want to see a lot of discipline, we want to see a lot of commitment. And we obviously want to get some answers in certain positions where we still kind of juggle things around."
To that end, Klinsmann said he did not pick Stoke City defender Geoff Cameron because he is playing well for the Premier League side and is a well-known quantity. "I wanted to see other players now coming in and therefore he has to swallow that pill real quick of being left out," Klinsmann said.