From Giorgione to the 26 US teams at the World Cup, the extraordinary adventure of Italian Yunus Musah

Even the United States they broke the delay and coach Gregg Berhalter announced the official list of 26 players called up for the Qatar 2022 World Cup. Among those chosen to challenge England, Wales and Iran in Group B are two players from our Serie A: Juventus McKennie and the rossoneros Dest. But also another player, Italian in every respect, who was included in the midfield list.

There are no sensational surprises, because Berhalter has created a squad in which he has included the best available role by role, studying the choices in detail, also taking into account the almost entirely English-speaking Group that he will have to face. A meticulous study that led to some important exclusions which were explained live by the coach. In the end, those left out were goalkeeper Zack Steffen (Middlesbrough), defender Reggie Cannon (Boavista) and forwards Jordan Pefok (Union Berlin) and Ricardo Pepi (Groningen).

The coach, however, did not limit himself to simply reading the squad but also gave important explanations: “It was a very difficult conversation I had to have with Pepi” he said live on ESPN as he formalized the 26 players. “He scored three goals in the World Cup qualifiers and will not be part of the tournament.” The reason? Pragmatic at the highest level: “Josh [Sargent] is playing for the championship [inglese] and last year he played in the Premier League. We are playing Wales and England and both teams are full of players from those leagues.🇧🇷🇧🇷

Thus, the defense will be led by specialist Tim Ream (Fulham) along with Seattle Sounders duo Cristian Roldan and Jordan Morris. Nashville Shaq Moore was chosen at right back and the very young Joe Scally (born 2022) was included. On offense, Haji Wright and Josh Sargent were confirmed against Jordan Pefok and Ricardo Pepi. Among the players who play in our Serie A there are also two important confirmations: the first is in defense with AC Milan player Sergino Destthe second in midfield where it will be Weston McKennie of Juventus.

But in addition to the two players who will represent a small part of our championship in Qatar, there is also a true Italian in the squad of 26: this is Yunus Musah, who has played for Valencia since 2019 where he started in the basic categories and then finished in the first team, under the orders of another Italian, Rino Gattuso. Ductile and versatile midfielder who already in 2019 had been included in the list of the best American footballers in the class of 2002.

Born in New York to Ghanaian parents, Musah at age 10 immediately moved to Italy, in Castelfranco Veneto, where he began his career in the youth sector of Giorgione. He then moved to London in 2012 where he joined Arsenal Academy. The 2002 class in 2019 started playing in Spain, in Valencia, where Rino Gattuso is sitting on the bench today and has been called up by Berhalter to his first world championship. Musah has the distinction of having, in addition to the American, three other passports, the English, the Ghanaian and also the Italian.

goalkeepers: Ethan Horvath (Luton Town), Matt Turner (Arsenal), Sean Johnson (New York City);

Defenders: Tim Ream (Fulham), Sergino Dest (Milan), Antonee Robinson (Fulham), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville), DeAndre Yedlin (Inter Miami), Shaq Moore (Nashville), Joe Scally (Borussia Monchengladbach) ) ) ), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls);

Midfielders: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds), Kellyn Acosta (Los Angeles FC), Tyler Adams (Leeds), Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Yunus Musah (Valencia), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders);

Attackers: Jesus Ferreira (Dallas), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund), Josh Sargent (Norwich), Timothy Weah (Lille), Haji Wright (Antalyaspor)