Brenden Aaronson relishes home World Cup call and feels for Leeds team-mates left out | OneFootball

Brenden Aaronson has been named in Mauricio Pochettino’s USA squad for this summer’s home World Cup. The Leeds United playmaker is heading to his second finals.

According to Leeds Live, he has been a mainstay since his 2020 debut and featured in all four USA matches at Qatar 2022, before Pochettino overlooked him for September’s internationals.

He has made every squad since, and Tuesday’s announcement came as no surprise. He has not been a regular starter for Pochettino for two years and is expected to be used largely from the bench.

He went unused in only three of the last 13 squads he has been part of, and featured in the USA’s run to last year’s Gold Cup final. For Leeds he delivered four goals and five assists, starting 30 Premier League matches, with a four-week purple patch across December and January bringing three goals and two assists.

Speaking after Sunday’s season-closer at West Ham, with the roster still unconfirmed, he said that if he could go it would make for a really special month and be a dream for his family to watch him represent his country on home soil.

Aaronson is the fourth Leeds player heading to the tournament, joining Gabriel Gudmundsson of Sweden, Noah Okafor of Switzerland and Ao Tanaka of Japan. Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Anton Stach were not selected by England and Germany, and Aaronson felt both deserved call-ups, adding that they can use the setback as motivation next season.

Source: Leeds Live