City SC midfielder Aziel Jackson was one of 25 names to be announced by the USMNT to be slated apart of the camp Friday.
Among the more notable names to be attending the camp include defenders Miles Robinson and Shaq Moore, who were both on the 2022 USMNT World Cup roster and St. Louis native and Francis Howell High School graduate Patrick Schulte, who won the MLS Cup as the starting goalkeeper of the Columbus Crew.
The January camps have been traditionally used as an opportunity for American MLS players to get on the national team's radar. However, as more players are leaving MLS earlier to go play and develop in Europe, more younger players are being given an opportunity to showcase their talents and ability, potentially where they could be apart of the player pool moving forward.
This year's January camp, which is slated to begin on Jan. 8, will likely be used to not just identify who could make an impact on the national team going forward, but who also can represent the US in the Olympic Games, which is slated to be in Paris in the summer. As a reminder the Olympics in soccer is a under-23 tournament so don't expect a lot of soccer's top stars or key players in the USMNT to participate, especially with the Euros and Copa America on the calendar this year too. Though nations are allowed to have three overage players on their roster.
For Robinson and Moore, the camp will be a chance for both players to stay in the running for the USMNT squad for the 2024 Copa America, which will be held on home soil in the US.
For Jackson and Schulte, it will be a chance for them to showcase their abilities to see if they deserve to be apart of the talent pool for future major tournaments and potentially set a path forward for them to move on to Europe if the opportunity arises.
The USMNT winter camp is based in Orlando, Florida and will run for eight days. Following the eight-day training camp, the USMNT will decide on the final roster for their friendly against Slovenia on January 20.