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SANDY — Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando and team captain Kyle Beckerman are well acquainted with the U.S. men's national team.
The duo will get even more familiar this week.
Rimando and Beckerman have been called up by U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann for a pair of friendlies in Europe to kick off the month of June, U.S. Soccer announced Sunday afternoon.
Klinsmann named 22 players to the squad that will take on the Netherlands on Friday at 12:30 p.m. MDT on ESPN, and follow up with a match at Germany on June 10 on Fox Sports 1.
"Our time since the World Cup has been a transition period which now winds down before the Gold Cup," Klinsmann said in a statement. "Playing against top teams like Germany and the Netherlands provides valuable experience, especially for the younger players here. More and more they must understand we come to meet these opponents eye to eye. Obviously it's a bit tricky when we are without some of our core players, but that creates a huge opportunity for the guys here to benchmark themselves against some of the best players in the world. "
U.S. roster for Netherlands, Germany friendlies
| Name | Position | Club |
| Brad Guzan | GK | Aston Villa |
| Nick Rimando | GK | Real Salt Lake |
| William Yarbrough | GK | Club Leon |
| Ventura Alvarado | DF | Club America |
| John Brooks | DF | Hertha Berlin |
| Timmy Chandler | DF | Eintracht Frankfurt |
| Brad Evans | DF | Seattle Sounders |
| Michael Orozco | DF | Puebla |
| Brek Shea | DF | Orlando City |
| DeAndre Yedlin | DF | Tottenham Hotspur |
| Kyle Beckerman | MF | Real Salt Lake |
| Michael Bradley | MF | Toronto FC |
| Mix Diskerud | MF | New York City FC |
| Miguela Ibarra | MF | Minnesota United FC |
| Fabian Johnson | MF | Borussia Monchengladbach |
| Jermaine Jones | MF | New England Revolution |
| Alfredo Morales | MF | Ingolstadt |
| Danny Williams | MF | Reading |
| Juan Agudelo | FW | New England Revolution |
| Aron Johannsson | FW | AZ Alkmaar |
| Bobby Wood | FW | 1860 Munich |
| Gyasi Zardes | FW | L.A. Galaxy |
RSL will host the Colorado Rapids in the first leg of the Rocky Mountain Cup rivalry series on Sunday, June 7, at 3 p.m. Naturally, Beckerman and Rimando are both expected to miss that match.
Rimando is one of three goalkeepers named to the pre-friendly camp for the United States, including Club Leon's Will Yarbrough and Aston Villa's Brad Guzan — the presumed starter who is making his first appearance with the U.S. squad in 2015. Guzan missed the USA's first two fixtures of the season following the birth of his first child.
Beckerman started and played 69 minutes for the United States in a 2-0 win over Mexico in March before departing with a thigh contusion. He joins Toronto's Michael Bradley, New York City FC's Mix Diskerud, Borussia Monchengladbach's Fabian Johnson, New England's Jermaine Jones, Ingolstadt's Alfredo Morales, Reading's Danny Williams and reigning NASL most valuable player Miguel Ibarra in the midfield.
"It’s a huge opportunity to play nations like these two in order to see a lot of things that you want to see from your players," Klinsmann said in a statement. "In a certain way, we want to see a couple of guys get thrown in the freezing cold water and see how they can swim and where they stand right now in the ranking of the Men’s National Team."
Eight leagues from six countries are represented on the latest roster, including the United States, Mexico, Germany and the Netherlands. Nine of the 22 players on the roster are based in Europe, 10 in Major League Soccer, and three currently play in Mexico's Liga MX.
