MLs clean sheets likely began for Roman Celentano in the first game, when fans knew his name at the national team level. The actual tale in this circumstance is the disconnect between what he has done week in and week out for FC Cincinnati and the glacial speed his national group image has depicted for him. Six call-ups. Zero caps. A home World Cup weeks away. There are plenty of frustratingly quiet journeys through the American player pool; those leading somewhere else but Pochettino’s most intriguing goalkeeper, perhaps permanently, tell you a lot about where the coach’s head and his heart really are.
Where He Came From
Celentano is from Naperville, Illinois, and only began paying attention to soccer during the 2010 World Cup. And that last part is crucial, because he says it himself -the tournament with which he’s falling in love with soccer happens to be what he’s trying to qualify for. With two Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year awards (making him the only player in conference history to win it twice), 28 shutouts, and a.61 goals-against average while playing at Indiana, he left for the 2022 MLS SuperDraft, where he went No. FC Cincinnati picks him up and literally hands him the keys.
He has not looked back since. And five seasons on the track record speaks for itself: he’s currently first in club history for minutes played (12,382 to date), a multiple MLS Save of the Year winner and arguably just one or two among several American keepers playing right now. The national team résumé, though, that’s a different story.
Six Call-Ups, Zero Caps
His initial selection was for a pair of friendlies against Serbia and Colombia back in January 2023. Then crickets for two and a half years. After nine clean sheets banked in 28 outings during the 2025 MLS campaign, FC Cincinnati was pursuing a repeat of their first-place finishing efforts in the East from a season before, staving off the challenge from Philadelphia. Pochettino tabled his fourth career call-up in August 2025.
Eventually, he was injured in camp and released without having played a single minute. Patrick Schulte replaced him. The cap was right there and disappeared again.
November came. Fifth call-up. Still no minutes. Come March 2026, Celentano was again named, alongside Chris Brady, as one of the two uncapped goalkeepers in the squad for his sixth career inclusion on a roster. FC Cincinnati kept him out of action as a precaution, and Schulte started again against Belgium and Portugal in the friendlies. Six call-ups. Zero caps. That has formed a narrative of its own.
The Pool That He Is Coming With In Between.
This is where the truth of things really stands. NYCFC’s Matt Freese has become something of Pochettino’s unsung No. 1. He rotated with Matt Turner during the March window, was particularly impressive versus Portugal, and can arguably be considered the most predictable performer under Pochettino since his appointment more than a year ago. Turner is the veteran backup who knows the system. The future’s finest: Rochedale, developing players already ready for roster lists -Chris Brady (Chicago Fire)
That puts Celentano in an awkward position, and through no fault of his own. Freese, Turner, and Brady are three goalkeepers in front of him on the picking order; SBI Soccer/FotMob and Stars and Stripes FC both project that he is now unlikely to make the final 26-man World Cup roster. Not an easy result for any MLS player to digest, let alone one of his caliber.
What He Said About It
Celentano is not shy about what it means to him. He went on to add earlier this season: “It is a dream to represent your country in any capacity. My entry into soccer was through the 2010 World Cup. Yet the World Cup will forever be in my heart.
That honesty takes the whole thing out of corporate boilerplate NFL roster bubble territory and more civilian. Neither is this a case by which a player fell off the cliff. His form has been excellent. He does not have bad timing, various injuries during camp, and a pecking order around him that has since become more solidified, six call-ups to the national team that didn’t earn him as much learning time as he would have hoped.
Whether or not Pochettino will allocate him a spot in his final squad this summer is anyone’s guess. Celentano has no role to play anymore, however. That isn’t it? But international football is a different beast altogether, and no one can seemingly prepare you for it.
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