The Union’s Quinn Sullivan and Nathan Harriel make the USMNT Gold Cup team, but Sergiño Dest doesn’t

CHICAGO — Union midfielder Quinn Sullivan and defender Nathan Harriel made the U.S. men’s soccer team’s squad for the Concacaf Gold Cup, the team announced Thursday.

It’s a nice compliment to their talents, but it might also be a reflection of the national team’s bigger issues. A slew of key players are injured, some are committed to the Club World Cup this summer, and others have fallen out of favor with manager Mauricio Pochettino.

Just this week, the injured list grew by two notable names. First, Downingtown-born goalkeeper Zack Steffen suffered a knee injury in practice, just after recovering from an abdominal injury.

Then on Thursday, U.S. Soccer announced that right back Sergiño Dest was judged not fit enough for the summer’s slate, following his return from a torn ACL. He suffered the injury in April of last year and returned in March to his club team, the Netherlands’ PSV Eindhoven. Dest played seven games down the stretch of the season, and only one was a full 90 minutes.

“The technical, medical and high performance staffs have done a series of evaluations this week on all the players in camp,” Pochettino said in a statement. “In the case of Sergiño, we determined the best decision is for the player to have an individualized training program for the summer so he can focus on being fully recovered and ready to perform next season.”

Amid all the absences, Pochettino has turned to a crop of players from Major League Soccer to try to win the continental title and to restore fans’ faith a year before the biggest World Cup ever.

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Harriel’s odds of making his senior national team debut this summer go up with Dest’s absence, though this isn’t the way anyone would ask for it. He already was a late addition to camp because of other injuries, and now the 24-year-old is one of two right backs on the Gold Cup team. The other is Orlando City’s 20-year-old Alex Freeman — the son of former Eagles and Green Bay Packers wide receiver Antonio Freeman.

Union fans know Harriel also can play other defensive positions in a pinch. He might not have to with the U.S., with five centerbacks and two leftbacks forming the rest of the unit.

The centerbacks include Union alumnus Mark McKenzie, a potential starter next to starting lock Chris Richards. The left backs include John Tolkin of Germany’s Holstein Kiel (and formerly the New York Red Bulls), who was called in to fill the spot opened by Dest’s injury.

» READ MORE: Back with the USMNT, Brenden Aaronson is ready to help the team return to winning

Sullivan is an interesting case. He’s listed as a midfielder on the U.S. roster, and that’s how he plays with the Union. But he’s just as likely — perhaps more likely — to play as a winger with the national team.

This squad’s winger class also includes Union alumni Brenden and Paxten Aaronson, Damion Downs of Germany’s FC Köln, and Haji Wright of England’s Coventry City. The Aaronsons have their own versatility: Brenden is listed as a midfielder but can play as a winger, and Paxten is listed as a forward but can play in many spots. Wright also can play at striker or out wide.

Brenden Aaronson gave Sullivan a nice endorsement this week in an interview with The Inquirer.

“I’ve seen him grow over the last years from afar,” Aaronson said. “His assists are unbelievable at the moment. His numbers with his assists, and his numbers with goals, and how he is in the game — he’s lively, he wants to get on the ball always, he doesn’t have any fear.”

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It’s seven assists and two goals so far this year, to be precise. Aaronson hasn’t seen them all live, because a 7:30 p.m. kickoff at Subaru Park is 12:30 a.m. at his home in England. But he was at Subaru Park when the Union hosted Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami a few weeks ago, and Sullivan scored a great goal that night just after being named to the U.S. training camp squad.

“He always gives 100%, and he’s always great to have on your team,” Aaronson said. “You want players like that. … He just goes out there and plays, and that’s what he’s doing right now.”

Eight players in all across the 26-player squad have ties to the Union, whether as former players or former academy prospects: the two Aaronsons, Harriel, McKenzie, Sullivan, goalkeeper Matt Freese, midfielder Jack McGlynn, and striker Brian White.

The U.S. will play Turkey on Saturday in East Hartford, Conn. (3:30 p.m., TNT, Telemundo 62), then Switzerland on Tuesday in Nashville (8 p.m., TNT, Peacock). The Gold Cup starts on June 14, with the U.S. playing Trinidad and Tobago, Saudi Arabia, and Haiti in its group. (That last game could see Sullivan and Harriel playing against Union teammate Danley Jean Jacques.)

» READ MORE: U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino wants his team to play with more intensity. Can Brenden Aaronson help bring it?

The Gold Cup runs until July 6. If the U.S. makes the final — and it’s under well-earned pressure to win the title — Sullivan and Harriel would miss four Union games. Their first one back would be the July 9 U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal against the New York Red Bulls.

Goalkeepers (3): Chris Brady (Chicago Fire), Matt Freese (New York City FC), Matt Turner (Crystal Palace, England)

Defenders (9): Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew), Alex Freeman (Orlando City), Nathan Harriel (Union), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse, France), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace, England), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati), John Tolkin (Holstein Kiel, Germany), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC)

Midfielders (9): Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United, England), Tyler Adams (Bournemouth), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps), Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis, Spain), Luca de la Torre (San Diego FC), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake), Jack McGlynn (Houston Dynamo), Quinn Sullivan (Union); Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands)

FORWARDS (5): Paxten Aaronson (Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany), Patrick Agyemang (Charlotte FC), Damion Downs (FC Köln, Germany), Brian White (Vancouver Whitecaps), Haji Wright (Coventry City, England)

» READ MORE: Brenden Aaronson and Quinn Sullivan are in, but Christian Pulisic is out of the USMNT Gold Cup picture

June 7: vs. Türkiye in East Hartford, Conn., 3:30 p.m. (TNT, truTV, Telemundo 62, Universo, Max, Peacock)

June 10: vs. Switzerland in Nashville, 8 p.m. (TNT, truTV, Max, Peacock)

June 15: vs. Trinidad & Tobago in San Jose, Calif., Concacaf Gold Cup group stage, 6 p.m. (Fox29, Univision 65, TUDN, ViX)

June 19: vs. Saudi Arabia in Austin, Texas, Gold Cup group stage, 9:15 p.m. (FS1, UniMás, TUDN, ViX)

June 22: vs. Haiti in Arlington, Texas, Gold Cup group stage, 7 p.m. (Fox29, UniMás, ViX)

June 28 or 29: Gold Cup quarterfinal in Glendale, Ariz. or (more likely) Minneapolis, time TBD (Fox29 or FS1, Univision 65, TUDN, ViX)

July 2: Gold Cup semifinal in Santa Clara, Calif. or (more likely) St. Louis, time TBD (FS1, Univision 65, TUDN, ViX)

July 6: Gold Cup final in Houston, 7 p.m. (Fox29, Univision 65, TUDN, ViX)

Sept. 6: vs. South Korea in Harrison, N.J., 5 p.m. (TNT, Telemundo 62, Universo, Max, Peacock)

Sept. 9: vs. Japan in Columbus, Ohio, 7:30 p.m. (TNT, Telemundo 62, Universo, Max, Peacock)