It is now a bit clearer what lies ahead for the US national team in 2018 World Cup qualifying.
Guatemala head coach Walter Claveri announced on Friday his 24-man roster to face the United States in back-to-back World Cup qualifiers later this month. The US will be looking to automatically qualify for the next and final round of CONCACAF qualifying (the Hexagonal) with wins against the familiar foe.
The USMNT are 15-4-6 all-time against Guatemala and go into the series with a 25-game unbeaten streak against the Central Americans.
The Guatemala roster includes a trio of MLS players: Moises Hernandez (FC Dallas), Marco Pappa (Colorado Rapids) and Rodrigo Saravia (Columbus Crew SC).
Saravia has just one cap with the Guatemalan national team, making his debut last month in a 3-1 friendly win over Honduras. Hernandez and Pappa have more history with the national team: Hernandez has 12 caps, including World Cup qualifiers last year, and Pappa has 49 caps, also including this latest World Cup qualifying campaign.
Veteran captain and former MLS star Carlos Ruiz, now 36 years old, also made the list. He spent eight years in MLS, most recently with D.C. United in 2013, and has more than 100 caps for Guatemala.
The back-to-back group-stage showdown will kick off March 25 at Estadio Mateo Flores in Guatemala City, Guatemala (10 pm ET; beIN Sport, NBC Universo). The teams will transition to the US to meet again on March 29 at Columbus Crew SC's MAPFRE Stadium in Ohio (7 pm ET; ESPN2, UniMás, UDN).
Here is the full Guatemala roster:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Paulo Motta (Municipal), Ricardo Jérez (Alianza Petrolera/COL), José García (Cobán Imperial)
DEFENDERS (8): Cristian Jiménez (Municipal), Hamilton López (Xelajú), Luis Cardona (Municipal), Carlos Castrillo (Comunicaciones), Rafael Morales (Saprissa/CRC), Moises Hernández (FC Dallas/USA), Stefano Cincotta (Chemnitzer/GER), Jonathan López (Antigua GFC)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Rodrigo Saravia (Columbus Crew SC/USA), Marco Rivas (Municipal), Gerardo Arias (Petapa), Jean Márquez (Comunicaciones), Marco Pappa (Colorado Rapids/USA), José Contreras (Comunicaciones)
FORWARDS (6): Manfred Icuté (Petapa), Luis Martínez (Xelajú), Edi Guerra (Universidad San Carlos), Gerson Tinoco (Coatepeque), Carlos Ruiz (Municipal), Kevín Arriola (Xelajú)
TRAINING GK (1): Gilder Lemus
