Pochettino talks about Dester s absence from the Golden Cup: The first goal now is to get him fully healthy

Dester has become the latest core member of the US men's football team to be confirmed to miss the 2025 Central North America and Caribbean Golden Cup. The Eindhoven right-back was on standby for nearly a year after suffering from an ACL tear in April 2024. Although he returned at the end of the season and played 7 times to help the team fight back to win the Eredivisie championship, the national team coaching staff still decided to give priority to ensuring his recovery process, although he has participated in joint training recently.

U.S. coach Pochettino said in a statement: "The technical team and medical team evaluated all training players this week and determined that Dest should implement a personalized training plan this summer to ensure that he fully restored his competitive state next season."

Dester's absence has added another player to the US team's absence list in this Golden Cup. Pulisic, Moussa, Balogon and Anthony Robinson all withdraw due to injury or personal reasons, while McKennie, Via Jr. and Giovanni Renner missed the call because the club participated in the Club World Cup. In the final 26-man roster released on Thursday, Pochettino only needs to cut one of the initial 27-man training rosters, but then five more players quit due to injuries. Goalkeeper Patrick Schulte and Stephen's injury retreat prompted 21-year-old Chris Brady to urgently replace, while Dejuan Jones, Sean Zavatsky and Balogon became new wounded soldiers in the defense and front line.

However, some of the main players in the 2022 World Cup and 2024 Copa America are still retained in the lineup. Matt Turner will regain the starting goalkeeper position. Tim Reim, Chris Richards and Walker Zimmerman form an experienced central defender combination. Brenden Allenson, Cardoso, Luca Delatorre and Malik Tillman continue their roles in the major competition. Hai Wright has become the only forward in the lineup of the previous two major competitions to be selected for this Golden Cup.