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Matt Miazga must be on Cloud Nine at the moment. At 20 years of age the New Jersey native made his Premier League debut for Chelsea over the weekend. Not only did he see his first minutes since joining the famous club in January, but he was universally praised after his performance against Aston Villa. Miazga is hoping that a successful debut will lead to a spot on the USA's roster for this summer's Copa America Centenario.
United States manager, Jurgen Klinsmann, obviously took notice of the youngster's big moment and even sent him a congratulatory text afterwards according to Miazga.
"Family and friends called me so that was great. Jürgen Klinsmann gave me a text and coaches from the Red Bulls academy also got in touch to congratulate me."
With Chelsea's season virtually over (they have an outside chance at making the Europa League), current manager Guus Hiddink has said that he'll be letting his younger players have a chance for the remainder of the season. Playing time is just what Miazga will need to earn a spot on the USMNT's roster for this summer's special one-off Copa America tournament, which he says he hopes to do.
"It's a goal my mine to make the [Copa America] roster. Any time the national team has a window or a tournament you want to be part of it."
-Matt Miazga; Source: The Telegraph
It's no secret that the USMNT's center back stable is shaky at best. They were stretched thin in the last round of qualifiers while Miazga was on U-23 duty. It remains to be seen if he's actually in Jurgen Klinsmann's plans for this summer, but it's hard to imagine him not at least being brought along for the experience considering the lack of options in the player pool.