COLUMBUS – Columbus Crew SC today announced that goalkeeper Zack Steffen and midfielder Wil Trapp have received international call-ups from the United States Men’s National Team. The U.S. is set to face England in a friendly match at Wembley Stadium in London, England on November 15 before facing Italy at Luminus Arena in Genk, Belgium on November 20.
The matches against England and Italy are the last two scheduled friendlies for the U.S. Men’s National Team for the remainder of the year. The friendly against England is set to be the first encounter between the two countries since facing each other in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, when the Americans played the Three Lions to a 1-1 draw on June 12, 2010 at Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, South Africa. The match against Italy will mark the first meeting between the two since February 29, 2012, when the Stars and Stripes defeated the four-time World Cup champions in an international friendly at Stadio Luigi Ferraris in Genoa, Italy.
In 2018, goalkeeper Zack Steffen has earned six caps with the U.S. Men’s National Team, tying Kasey Keller and Troy Perkins for most caps by a goalkeeper in his debut year with the Stars and Stripes. Steffen’s latest cap came in an international friendly against Colombia on October 11, 2018 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, with Steffen starting the match.
Steffen is in his third season with Crew SC and finished the 2018 MLS regular season with 29 regular-season appearances (all starts), making 66 saves en route to recording an MLS career-best 10 shutouts in a single season. Notably, Steffen’s 10 shutouts tied him with Jon Busch (2004) and William Hesmer (2008) for second place on Crew SC’s list of most shutouts by a player in a single regular-season.
Wil Trapp has earned nine caps for the U.S. since making his debut on January 28, 2015 in a friendly against Chile. This year, the midfielder earned seven caps for the Stars and Stripes, most recently starting and wearing the captain’s armband in an international friendly against Peru on October 16 at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut.
Currently in his sixth season with the Black & Gold, Trapp made 30 appearances (29 starts) during the 2018 MLS regular season, providing one goal and scoring one goal – a stoppage-time, game-winning strike in a home contest against Orlando City SC on July 21. Additionally, Trapp is one of only three players to have completed over 3,500 passes in MLS regular-season action since the beginning of the 2017 season.
Crew SC’s current roster features seven players that have received a senior National Team call-up while with the club: Harrison Afful, Cristian Martinez, Jonathan Mensah, Justin Meram, Zack Steffen, Wil Trapp and Gyasi Zardes.
Crew SC returns to the pitch for the decisive Leg 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals in the Audi 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs against the New York Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena on Sunday, November 11 (7:30 p.m. ET / FS1, FOX Deportes, CD102.5 FM, English and Spanish audio broadcasts available on ColumbusCrewSC.com).
