Called Up: Inter Miami Goalkeeper Drake Callender Earns USMNT Invite

Callender With A Solid Shot At A Cap

If there was a time for Callender to earn minutes in goal for the U.S. Men’s National Team, this winter break would be it.

Camp will run from January 8 to January 16 in Orlando before the team heads off to San Antonio, Texas for a friendly against Slovenia on January 20.

For this camp, USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter has called up 25 MLS players — including three goalkeepers.

Callender will compete with FC Cincinnati’s Roman Celentarno and Columbus Crew keeper Patrick Schulte.

During the MLS regular season, Callender had a better save percentage than Schulte and was close behind Celentano’s 70.2%.

I think this presents itself as a strong opportunity for Callender to set himself apart as a national team goalkeeper with the intent of earning a shot at the roster in upcoming competitions.

It certainly won’t be easy as Schulte is coming off winning the MLS Cup with Columbus and Celentano helped FC Cincinnati win the 2022-2023 Supporters’ Shield.

But Callender comes into camp after being voted the Inter Miami Defensive Player of the Year for 2023, notching his own penalty score in the Leagues Cup final against Nashville SC and making the most appearances for the team with 46 across all competitions.