Folarin Balogun, a guy who bagged three goals at the World Cup, just returned to active duty in the French league. Haji Wright hasn’t even hit the pitch in England this season. Ricardo Pepi was a last-minute scratch. Patrick Agyemang is still recovering from a brutal injury that kept him out of the summer carnival across North America. USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino is kicking off a new World Cup cycle with a camp that’s got four friendlies packed into 11 days, spanning three time zones, and guess what? There’s no proven striker anywhere to be found.
The Striker Shortage Is Real, And It’s Hitting Hard
Pochettino is in a tough spot, bringing in a squad that’s a wild mix of raw talent and some more refined players, but the glaring hole is up top. Injuries to the usual suspects and a clear desire to see what the young guns have got led Pochettino to dig deep into his depth chart. Five forwards on this roster have never scored at the senior international level. Get this: only one of them has ever even played for the full squad, and he wasn’t even on the initial roster when the team was announced! Damion Downs, you are officially on the clock. Downs got the emergency call-up after Pepi went down with an injury during PSV Eindhoven’s match in the Netherlands. The 22-year-old, who just joined MLS’s St. Louis City on loan from Southampton, isn’t shying away from the moment. “Everything’s an opportunity,” Downs said. “I’m here for a reason, and for me, just play as good as I can, and hopefully learn as much as I can.” With 13 of the 28 players looking for their first cap and two others with just one appearance, Downs’ six international matches actually make him a downright veteran among this crew.
Downs’ Shot: Experience Meets Scoring Drought
This 6-foot-4 forward was part of the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup squad, making four appearances as a sub and even converting the winning penalty kick in the quarterfinal shootout against Costa Rica. He was recalled for the next camp last September before he fell out of World Cup contention. Now, with World Cup strikers Balogun, Pepi, and Wright all out for this window, and teenage forwards Julian Hall, Justin Ellis, and Cavan Sullivan all hoping for their debuts, Downs is stepping into the spotlight. He’s reunited with both senior players and his U.S. under-21 teammates. “It’s just nice seeing the boys again,” he noted. The tricky part? Downs isn’t exactly in blazing scoring form. He’s got zero goals in 30 league appearances over the last 17 months across four clubs: Köln, Southampton, Hamburg, and St. Louis. His only goal in a competitive setting during that whole span was with the U.S. under-21s in a friendly against Ukraine back in June. And since joining St. Louis, he hasn’t scored in four brief appearances or a U.S. Open Cup game. Pochettino didn’t include him initially, but after Pepi’s injury, the call went out. Downs said he “had to get all my stuff from the [St. Louis] training facility,” but he’s here.
This new-look squad faces Peru on Saturday in Orlando at 4:30 p.m. ET on TNT. Then it’s Chile on Tuesday in St. Louis, Mexico on October 3 in greater Phoenix, and Canada on October 6 in St. Paul. This is a massive opportunity for Damion Downs and all these young forwards to prove they belong and show Pochettino they can be the answer up top.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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