The call many expected came Friday for Portland Timbers midfielder Darlington Nagbe.
Less than two months after becoming an American citizen, Nagbe was named to the U.S. national team.
Nagbe is on the 23-man roster announced Friday by coach Jurgen Klinsmann, and could make his national team debut in 2018 World Cup qualifiers against St. Vincent and the Grenadines at St. Louis on Nov. 13 or at Trinidad and Tobago four days later.
Nagbe will join the national team following Sunday’s playoff match in Vancouver against the Whitecaps. Should the Timbers advance to the Major League Soccer conference finals, Nagbe would not miss any playoff games because Major League Soccer is taking a break for this international window.
“I’m happy because you’re getting recognized for performing well with your club team and for helping your team win,” Nagbe said.
Also on Friday, Timbers midfielder Will Johnson was named to Canada’s roster for its World Cup qualifiers against Honduras and El Salvador. On Thursday, right back Alvas Powell was named to Jamaica’s roster for matches against Panama and Haiti.
The soft-spoken Nagbe called the selection “icing on the cake” after he passed his citizenship exam and became an American citizen in September. Born in Liberia, Nagbe grew up in Ohio and played for Timbers coach Caleb Porter at Akron where in 2010 Nagbe won the MAC Hermann Trophy as the top player in college soccer.
In his fifth season with the Timbers, Nabge has five goals and five assists in 2015. He has thrived since being moved into a box-to-box role in central midfield, producing three goals and an assist in the final two regular-season matches.
In addition to the national team call, Nagbe on Friday was honored with the MLS 2015 Fair Play Award. That honor is selected by MLS based on criteria including fouls committed, cards received, games and minutes played, as well as subjective evaluation of sportsmanlike behavior.
Porter said Nagbe’s selection to the national team isn’t a surprise. He emphasized that every Timber is focused on Sunday’s series-deciding match in Vancouver. But the Timbers coach, who has known Nagbe since his youth soccer days, said he is excited to see how Nagbe responds to the national team experience.
“I’ve seen him go from club player to college player to pro player, and every step he makes he seems to rise to it and raise his level,” Porter said.” So I’m real excited to see him take this next step and go to the next level, to see what more is in the tank of Darlington Nagbe.”
Among the players not on the roster for these matches is Sounders forward Clint Dempsey. Fabian Johnson is on the roster, despite a spat last month with Klinsmann. Former Sounders fullback DeAndre Yedlin, a teammate of Nagbe at Akron, was also selected. Like Nagbe, New York Red Bulls defender Matt Miazga also received his first national team selection.
In the absence of Dempsey and injured striker Aron Johannsson, Klinsmann’s forwards include Jozy Altidore, Alan Gordon, Bobby Wood, Gyasi Zardes and Stanford junior Jordan Morris.
“At this point in time, I want to give the younger strikers a chance to prove themselves, and this is a good stage to do it,” Klinsmann said. “I communicated with Clint about it, and it’s all fine.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
