The United States Men’s National Team will be without defenders Cameron Carter-Vickers and Chris Richards during September’s two friendly matches leading up to the 2022 World Cup set to begin in November.
Carter-Vickers was experiencing pain earlier in the week, Glasgow Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou explained. The player was thus omitted from the lineup for Sunday’s 2-0 loss to St. Mirren in the Scottish Premier League. The player did not show any signs of strain during Celtic’s 1-1 draw with Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League that Wednesday.
The pair will be replaced by Mark McKenzie and Erik Palmer-Brown, who will join Walker Zimmerman and Aaron Long as central defenders in the squad for the two World Cup warm-up games.
McKenzie, who plays for Belgian club Genk, has made eight international appearances for the United States. Palmer-Brown, who plays for French Ligue 1 side ES Troyes AC, has appeared in four games for the United States.
Having missed out on the 2018 World Cup, the United States will face England, Iran, and Wales in Group B of the 2022 edition of the tournament.
Team USA will face Japan in Dusseldorf, Germany on September 23 before heading to Murcia, Spain to face Saudi Arabia.
