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Yet another dual-national could be joining the USMNT ranks. Israeli-American midfielder Kenny Saief, who plays with Gent in the Belgian Pro League, has been told to expect a call-up to the United States men's national team according to Sport5.
Interesting news for United States National Team supporters. According to a Sport5 report, Gent MF Kenny Saief will be called up to USA NT.
— Raphael Gellar (@Raphael_Gellar) December 10, 2015
Report by Sport5: Kenny Saief has not gotten an official invitation from the US NT, but he has been told to expect one soon.
— Raphael Gellar (@Raphael_Gellar) December 10, 2015
The 21-year-old, who has already played in the UEFA Champions League in his career, apparently has garnered the attention of Jurgen Klinsmann enough to get a look.
Saief has scored 6 goals for Gent in 31 appearances since joining the club from Ironi Ramat Ha in August of 2014.
It's still unclear when exactly this call-up would take place. Assuming there's a January camp next year (which hasn't been announced yet) Gent have three fixtures taking place. That would either mean he'd be released from his club duties to participate, or his call-up is straight into the fire for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers in March against Guatemala.
There are a hand full of other midfielders who had very successful seasons in MLS who have been consistently ignored by Klinsmann. A player like Saief getting the call-up over that group could signify his permanent mindset of excluding them for players in Europe who are young.
If Saief does indeed get a call-up, he would likely be asked to play a creative attacking role like he does for his club. That is a position that the USMNT has sorely lacked and has tried to fill with the likes of Michael Bradley. If they can find someone to fill it and push Bradley back to his natural holding role it can only help.