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With World Cup Qualifying matches on the horizon, Doug McIntyre of ESPN is reporting that Fabian Johnson did not participate in full training today.
Fabian Johnson still training on his own this morning. No way he plays in Guatemala City in two days. #usmnt
— Doug McIntyre (@DougMacESPN) March 23, 2016
The Associated Press (via DW Sports) followed up.
Associated Press: @borussia forward Fabian Johnson didn't fully take part in USMNT training today. Doubtful for Friday's game.
— DW Sports (@dw_sports) March 23, 2016
Both sources seem doubtful that Fabian Johnson will play on Friday who is currently rehabbing from an abductor strain in his thigh. Looking past the first match, will he be able to play on Tuesday, March 29th in Columbus (against Guatemala again).
Theoretically, the United States should be good enough to take down Guatemala twice without arguably their best player. But this is CONCACAF Qualifying where anything can and usually does happen, so you want your strongest starting lineup on the field.
The current roster is below (via U.S. Soccer) so feel free to guess in the comment section who Johnson's replacement will be:
U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION (Club; WCQ Caps/Goals)
GOALKEEPERS (4): David Bingham (San Jose Earthquakes; 0/0), Brad Guzan (Aston Villa; 9/0), Tim Howard (Everton FC; 30/0), William Yarbrough (Club Leon; 0/0)
DEFENDERS (9): Ventura Alvarado (Club America; 0/0), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City; 8/0), Steve Birnbaum (D.C. United; 0/0), John Brooks (Hertha Berlin; 0/0), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City; 15/1), Edgar Castillo (Monterrey; 4/0), Omar Gonzalez (Pachuca; 8/0), Michael Orozco (Club Tijuana; 4/1), DeAndre Yedlin (Sunderland; 0/0)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake; 6/0), Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes FC; 3/0), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC; 26/5), Mix Diskerud (New York City FC; 3/0), Ethan Finlay (Columbus Crew SC; 0/0), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Monchengladbach; 11/1), Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers FC; 2/0), Lee Nguyen (New England Revolution; 0/0)
FORWARDS (5): Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC; 28/12), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC; 34/13), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes; 0/0), Bobby Wood (Union Berlin; 2/1), Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy; 2/1)