US national team head coach Bruce Arena told ESPN FC’s Doug McIntyre in an interview published on Thursday that it’s likely he would’ve brought Dom Dwyer into the USMNT’s January camp had the Sporting Kansas City striker been healthy.
“Robbie Rogers is hurt, so he wasn't in consideration. I think there's going to be more to his story. Dom Dwyer, if he was healthy, I think I would've brought him into camp,” Arena said when McIntyre asked if Dwyer and the Galaxy’s Rogers would’ve been called to camp had they been healthy.
Dwyer, 26, is not currently eligible to suit up for the USMNT, as he’s not yet a US citizen. The English-born attacker, who has lived in the States since 2008, told media in January that he’ll be eligible to apply for his US passport this month.
Dwyer, who is married to US women’s national team forward Sydney Leroux, also said that he’d been in touch with US Soccer and that the federation is working with FIFA to ensure he’s eligible for the national team as soon as his citizenship is approved.
While he would not have been able to appear in the US’s scoreless draw against Serbia on Sunday or in Friday’s match against Jamaica (7 pm ET; FS1, UniMas, UDN), Dwyer would’ve been able to train with the USMNT prior to gaining citizenship. After Friday’s match against the Reggae Boyz, the US will next play in late March, when they’ll take on Honduras and Panama in a pair of crucial World Cup qualifiers. If he receives his citizenship and has his eligibility approved by FIFA in time, Dwyer should be available for selection in those matches.
Dwyer had ankle surgery in the first week of November. He has been with SKC since they convened for preseason early last week, but began the camp training individually as he finalizes his rehab.
Now entering his sixth year in the league, Dwyer has been one of the more prolific scorers in MLS over the last three years, tallying 50 goals in 96 regular season matches since the start of 2014.
Read McIntyre's full interview with Arena on espnfc.us.
