Copa America 2024: Norwich's Josh Sargent, Watford's Yaser Asprilla among Sky Bet EFL players in the United States this summer

The 2024 Copa America will start on Thursday night with a match between Argentina and Canada at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.

The tournament's 48th edition will happen from Thursday, June 20th to Sunday, July 14th.

All 16 nations that qualified needed to send their complete team rosters by the deadline on Saturday June 15. The Sky Bet EFL was represented by 16 players from a total of six different countries.

In this article, we explore their identity...

Nunez is one of four Norwich players participating in major tournaments this summer, including Grant Hanley from Scotland, Josh Sargent from the USA, and Jose Cordoba from Panama. Nunez has proven to be a key player for Norwich during the Sky Bet Championship season, and now he is ready to showcase his skills in the Copa America.

The Chilean midfielder was selected for the 2021 Copa America, but unfortunately he did not get a chance to play during the tournament. Despite having played 25 games for the national team since his debut against Colombia in September, he is eager to make his tournament debut in the upcoming matches in the USA.

The Watford player had a very successful season in 2023/24, playing in almost all of the team's matches in the Sky Bet Championship. This was his first full season with the team after joining from CF Montreal in December 2022.

Kone, now 22 years old as of June 16, was born in Ivory Coast and relocated to Canada when he was seven years old. He made his first appearance for the national team in March 2022. Kone participated in all three group matches of the 2022 World Cup and has also been included in the starting lineup for the two friendly matches prior to the Copa America tournament, which are the first games under the leadership of new head coach Jesse Marsch.

Karoy Anderson from Charlton, Joel Latibeaudiere from Coventry, Kasey Palmer from Coventry, Amari'i Bell from Luton, Wes Harding from Millwall, Greg Leigh from Oxford, Coniah Boyce-Clarke from Reading, and Di'Shon Bernard from Sheffield Wednesday.

Most of the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) players participating in the tournament are part of the Jamaica team, thanks to the Jamaica Football Federation's efforts to recruit more players with Jamaican roots in recent years.

It seems that the goalkeeper Boyce-Clarke has gone on a journey to gain experience, as he is not expected to take the place of captain Andre Blake as the main goalkeeper. He has only played in one game so far. Similarly, Harding has not played for the Reggae Boyz in over three years.

In the meantime, Bernard has solidified his place as a regular starter in defense since his first game in June. Anderson has already earned six international caps despite not even being 20 years old until October. Latibeaudiere, who has represented England from U16 to U20 level, has accumulated 14 caps since making his debut last year. Unfortunately, Latibeaudiere was unavailable for the World Cup qualifying victories against the Dominican Republic and Dominica due to a calf injury.

Three veteran players on the team also come from the English Football League, with Bell, Leigh, and Palmer collectively earning 39 caps in the past four years.

Brenden Aaronson is playing for Leeds, Ethan Horvath is with Cardiff, Josh Sargent is at Norwich, and Haji Wright is at Coventry.

Nine out of the 26 players chosen by Gregg Berhalter play soccer in England. Four of them are members of teams in the Sky Bet Championship.

Aaronson played for Union Berlin in the Bundesliga last season on loan and has 41 international appearances. Horvath, who joined Cardiff from Nottingham Forest in February, has nine international caps. His most recent cap was in a 4-0 friendly victory against Oman in September.

Sargent and Wright were the top forwards on the team in the 2023/24 season, scoring a total of 35 goals in various competitions. They are looking forward to continuing their strong performance at the international level. Wright has earned a spot back on the national team, with three appearances and two goals in the last four games. However, Sargent has not played for his country since the 2022 World Cup.

The 23-year-old defender has not yet made an appearance for Norwich City. He was signed from Levski Sofia in Bulgaria in June, making him the first player to join under new manager Johannes Hoff Thorup.

Cordoba played his first game for Panama's senior team in a qualifying match against Canada in March 2022. He has played a total of 14 games for his country since then, with 11 of those being starts in their last 11 international games.

Asprilla is not yet 21 years old, but he has already played over 120 games for his club. He was a key player for the Watford team last season, scoring six goals and setting up eight more in 47 games across all competitions.

He has been a member of the senior international team since he first played in January 2022. He has scored two goals in five games, but all of these have been as a substitute. This means that he is still waiting for his first full appearance.