The United States men’s national team begins a summer of intrigue and opportunity on Saturday when dangerous Turkiye hit Connecticut for a terrific test.

This was going to be the first summer where a higher-powered USMNT competed in the Gold Cup after using a second-choice, MLS-heavy team for the past few iterations of that tournament, and that’s still part-true.

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But Christian Pulisic, Yunus Musah, Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, Gio Reyna, and Antonee Robinson are out of the team due to either Club World Cup commitments or rest, so Mauricio Pochettino has what let’s call a 1.5-choice team that will see mainstays on the pitch with some new faces.

Also out? Ricardo Pepi, Josh Sargent, Joe Scally, Cameron Carter-Vickers, and now the injured

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