USMNT

As temperatures drop below freezing and blizzard warnings grip the Midwest, it feels as though winter has been here forever and shows no sign of abating. So it’s with an envious eye that we follow the 2017 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship in the Bahamas. 

The tournament, contested by 16 nations from February 20-26, will crown the region’s champion and decide which two teams will qualify for the 2017 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. On Friday, the quarterfinals will be contested and it looks like everyone is having a helluva time.

Prior to Sunday’s match against Serbia, much of the coverage centered on the idea of dual-national American players. It’s not a new concept. The United States has been fielding dual nationals since US Soccer was founded.

While United States Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati has declined to comment on U.S. Soccer’s stance towards Donald Trump’s executive order to ban the entry of citizens from seven different Muslim countries, USMNT captain Michael Bradley criticized Trump with a heartfelt message on Instagram. 

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Bruce Arena's first USMNT squad probably won't tell us much. The Europe-based players are unavailable because it isn't an international break, and the USA-based players aren't in shape because the MLS doesn't start for a while. Also, the games won't be anywhere near competitive international matches.

That said, it is his first squad and therefore people will wildly speculate on what his team selection means. Maybe we'll learn something about the type of player Arena is looking for. More likely we won't.

The biennial CONCACAF Gold Cup returns in 2017, and the continental governing body for the region has announced that the tournament, which runs from July 7-26, will be played out in 13 cities across the United States.

The 14th edition of the tournament will be contested by 12 teams, beginning with the group stage in early July. Of the three groups, we now know that Group B will be headlined by the United States and Group C will have Mexico.

DaMarcus Beasley has been invited to the USMNT’s January camp, a glorified workout for MLS-based players and an opportunity for the national coaching staff to monitor them in an otherwise overlong offseason, and that’s really funny for people who seem to have a particular agenda.