International Friendly: USA vs. Serbia

LINEUP NOTES
USMNT vs. Serbia
International Friendlies
January 25, 2023
BMO Stadium; Los Angeles, Calif.
Kickoff: 10:07 p.m. ET on HBO Max, UNIVERSO, Peacock & Telemundo App
Social Media: @USMNT on Twitter and Instagram; U.S. Soccer on Facebook, The U.S. Soccer App

Tonight’s USMNT Starting XI vs. Serbia: 24-Gaga Slonina, 2-Julian Gressel, 3-Walker Zimmerman (capt.), 5-Jonathan Gómez, 8-Brandon Vazquez, 10-Paxton Pomykal, 14-Alan Soñora, 17-Alex Zendejas, 20-Cade Cowell, 21-Aidan Morris, 22-Jalen Neal

Substitutes: 1-Sean Johnson, 4-DeJuan Jones 6-Paxten Aaronson, 7-Paul Arriola, 9-Jesús Ferreira, 11-Emmanuel Sabbi, 12-John Tolkin, 13-Matthew Hoppe, 15-Aaron Long, 16-Sam Rogers, 19-Eryk Williamson, 23-Kellyn Acosta

GAME NOTES | FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT SERBIA

• USMNT Starting XI Cap Numbers (including this match): Walker Zimmerman (38), Cade Cowell (2), Jonathan Gómez (2), Paxton Pomykal (2), Julian Gressel (1), Aidan Morris (1), Jalen Neal (1), Gaga Slonina (1), Alan Soñora (1), Brandon Vazquez (1), Alex Zendejas (1)

• Today’s USMNT Starting XI has an average age of 23 years, 18 days and averages four caps overall.

• Nine of the 11 starters are age 24 or younger: Alan Soñora, Brandon Vazquez and Alex Zendejas (24); Paxton Pomykal (23); Aidan Morris (21), Cade Cowell, Jonathan Gómez and Jalen Neal (19); Gaga Slonina (18).

• Seven starters earn their senior team debuts – the most first caps in a USMNT Starting XI since nine players debuted in a friendly match against Guatemala on January 10, 1988.

• At 18 years, 255 days, Gaga Slonina will become the youngest goalkeeper to play for the USMNT, beating out Tony Meola who made his debut at 19 years, 106 days on June 7, 1988 vs. Ecuador.

• Two of the three starters with caps earned their USMNT debuts at Dignity Health Sports Park. Both Cade Cowell and Jonathan Gómez came off the bench to help the USA earn a 1-0 win against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Dec. 18, 2021.

• Seven starters are dual nationals: Cowell, Gómez, Vazquez and Zendejas (USA & Mexico); Gressel (USA & Germany), Soñora (USA & Argentina), Slonina (USA & Poland)

• The lone World Cup veteran in the Starting XI, center back Walker Zimmerman captains the USMNT for the seventh time tonight.

• Three starters are internationally based: Gaga Slonina (Chelsea/ENG) Jonathan Gómez (Real Sociedad/ESP) and Alex Zendejas (Club América/MEX). Midfielder Alan Soñora most recently played for Argentine side Independiente but is currently unattached to a club.

• The seven remaining players are based in MLS: Cade Cowell (San Jose Earthquakes), Julian Gressel (Vancouver Whitecaps), Aidan Morris (Columbus Crew), Jalen Neal (LA Galaxy), Paxton Pomykal (FC Dallas), Brandon Vazquez (FC Cincinnati) and Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC).

• Born in Ciudad Juarez, Alex Zendejas follows Martin Vasquez and William Yarbrough as the third player born in Mexico to represent the USMNT during the team’s modern era (1990-present). Zendejas now calls El Paso, Texas his hometown.

• Should Paxten Aaronson come off the bench tonight, he and older brother Brenden Aaronson would become the eighth set of brothers to earn appearances for the USMNT and the first pair to do it since Pedro and John DeBrito, who earned their debuts in 1983 and 1991, respectively.

• With the USMNT dressing 23 players tonight, goalkeeper Roman Celentano is a healthy scratch from the gameday squad. Six substitutions are allowed in six different moments. Halftime does not count as a substitution moment.

• The USMNT is 0-2-1 all-time against Serbia. The teams last played to a 0-0 draw on Jan. 29, 2017 in San Diego.

• Daneon Parchment of Jamaica is the referee for today’s match. He previously officiated the 1-1 draw with Chile on March 26, 2019 in Houston, the 2-0 loss to Canada in Concacaf Nations League play on Oct. 15, 2019 in Toronto and the 2-1 win against Costa Rica in World Cup Qualifying on Oct. 13, 2021 in Columbus.