Tesho Akindele and Julio Morales can't play for USMNT vs. Chile

Tesho Akindele and Julio Morales won't be in the team when the United States squares off against Chile on January 28. They won't even be in Chile. That's because neither is eligible to play for the U.S. yet and will not travel with the team.

Akindele is provisionally tied to Canada, while Morales is provisionally tied to Mexico. Both would need to file a one-time switch with FIFA to become eligible for the U.S. and that process isn't done yet.

"Obviously (Akindele) can’t travel with us to Chile, nor can Julio because they need now the one-time switch," said U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann. "We’re not pressuring that, we’re not pushing them. We said, ‘Take all the time in the world because once you make that decision, it’s a life-time decision.'"

Some assumed that Akindele and Morales had filed their one-time switches and that's why they got calls into camp. That is especially true of Akindele, who turned down a call-up to Canada in November. But apparently Klinsmann just called them in to give them a taste of U.S. camp and to see if they enjoyed playing with the Americans. Now he's hoping that the team made a good impression and they'll choose to play for the U.S., but it won't happen in time for them to suit up against Chile.