Gregg Berhalter Lights the Empire State Building in Celebration of the U.S. Soccer Team Reveal
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Happy U.S. roster reveal day, soccer fans. Welcome to the inaugural edition of the Golazo Starting XI newsletter. With the World Cup approaching, I'll be your pilot during what should be a wild World Cup ride. We plan to keep you updated on everything soccer related that you need to know -- from game breakdowns to unearthing hidden gems and highlighting can't-miss matches that might have flown under your radar.

Make sure you smash this link to subscribe to the Golazo Starting XI newsletter to get your daily fix during the tournament.

Let's get right to it with some big news. Late Tuesday night, our own Roger Gonzalez broke the news that goalkeeper Zack Steffen is not expected to be on Gregg Berhalter's final 26-player list. The squad announcement is expected during the 5 p.m. ET hour and we have you locked with live updates. Steffen seemed like a presumed lock at one point, so let's break down what this means.

⚽  The Forward Line

Matt Turner is the undisputed No. 1

England v Sweden: Semi Final - UEFA Women's EURO 2022
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Not taking Steffen is certainly one way to resolve a goalkeeper dilemma. Steffen and Matt Turner have been dueling it out for the top spot throughout the World Cup qualifying cycle. After Tim Howard's retirement at the end of the disastrous 2018 cycle, Steffen entered as the presumed starter, in no small part because of his history with Berhalter dating back to their time in Columbus. 

Turner was graduating from Fairfield University and playing for the Richmond Kickers during the 2018 cycle before he clawed his way into the New England Revolution first team. Soon enough, he was making his national team debut against Trinidad and Tobago in January of 2021. Buoyed by his strong shot-stopping skills, and with Steffen injured, by the time World Cup qualifying got underway, the keeper position was essentially a timeshare. Steffen started six matches to Turner's eight.

There would be nothing wrong with Berhalter deciding Turner was his guy in goal. Although he now backs up Aaron Ramsdale at Arsenal, he has, when healthy, gotten plenty of minutes in Europa League. We shouldn't underestimate the question marks surrounding his health. Turner missed a couple of weeks with a groin injury and has not yet made his return for Arsenal. That means when the Americans take the field against Wales on Nov. 21, Turner's biggest start of his life might be his first live game action since Oct. 20.

And even with Turner as the top dog, Steffen deserved to be the clear backup in Qatar, especially when your starter is just coming back from injury. To his credit, Berhalter has paid a lot of attention to the vibes around this team, and brought together a group of players that seem to genuinely like each other. And he hasn't been afraid to freeze a player out if the fit is not ideal. Just ask defender John Brooks, for example, what happens when you lose your starting job and Berhalter decides you don't fit with the team. And to be clear, this certainly wouldn't be the first time a USMNT manager left a marquee player off to make a statement. Jurgen Klinsmann famously dropped Landon Donovan in 2014.

This is a huge -- and seemingly unnecessary -- risk to take. Maybe Turner plays every minute of the tournament and Steffen's lack of presence is an afterthought. If something were to happen and all of a sudden Sean Johnson or Ethan Horvath (the two likely backups, unless Berhalter goes really wild and picks the teenager Gaga Slonina) are playing major minutes, then this falls squarely on Berhalter.

For more on the USMNT squad:

Listen below and follow In Soccer We Trust: A CBS Sports Soccer Podcast where your three favorite former USMNT players -- Charlie Davies, Jimmy Conrad and Heath Pearce --  will go live immediately after the World Cup squad announcement to break down the list.  

🔗  Midfield Link Play

World Cup injuries mount

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After taking what seemed like an innocuous knock on Tuesday, Bayern Munich star Sadio Mane may now miss the World Cup for Senegal. Mane is the latest in a long line of players finding themselves out of the tourney or frantically racing back to fitness like Tottenham's Heung-Min Son. Chelsea's Reece James joins the list of players out for England. It's a difficult situation, and recently our own Thierry Henry and Jamie Carragher ripped into FIFA for putting the players in this situation.

💰  The Back Lines

Best bets for Golden Boot

All odds courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook.

  • The favorite: Harry Kane (+800). Harry Kane scores a lot of goals for England, but there are a couple of reasons to be skeptical of betting the favorite. First, the top scorer usually plays for a team making a deep run, and while England have the fourth shortest odds to win it all (+800), they've gone winless since March (0-3-3). And then there's the penalty situation. In England's last two major tournaments (2020 Euros and 2018 World Cup), Kane has padded his stats with three penalties from four attempts in 13 games. That's a ratio that's unlikely to continue. 
  • The old stalwart: Lionel Messi (+1400). He's Lionel Messi and he's in some of the best form of his career. Argentina are one of the best teams in the tournament. And oddsmakers think four other players (Kane, Kylian Mbappe, Karim Benzema, Neymar) are more likely to top the scoring charts than him? I'd like to repeat, he's Lionel Messi.
  • The breakout star: Vinicius Junior (+2500). Neymar is the focal point of Brazil, but Vinicius Junior might be their most dangerous player in the box. Brazil are the favorites to win the whole thing and if Neymar turns provider, look out for this Real Madrid star to explode in front of goal.