NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Nov. 30, 2020) – Nashville Soccer Club in conjunction with the U.S. Soccer Federation announced today that 2020 Major League Soccer Defender of the Year and Best XI center back Walker Zimmerman will join the U.S. Men’s National Team for its upcoming camp in South Florida through Dec. 10.
Zimmerman will join the U.S. MNT today as they prepare to take on El Salvador on Dec. 9 at Inter Miami CF Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. with kick off slated for 6:30 p.m. CT.
The 27-year old center back has earned 12 caps and two goals with the U.S. MNT. His last appearance for the Stars and Stripes came on Feb. 1, 2020 in a 1-0 shutout win over Costa Rica. In the last six matches that Zimmerman has played the full 90 minutes for the USMNT, Zimmerman has posted six consecutive shutouts, three of them during the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Zimmerman is coming off a groundbreaking campaign in Nashville’s inaugural MLS season, as he helped guide the Boys in Gold to a historic year. Nashville became only the second expansion club in MLS history to reach the Conference Semifinals in the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs in their inaugural year.
Zimmerman guided Nashville to two Audi MLS Cup Playoff victories, becoming the first expansion team since the 1998 Chicago Fire to win a playoff match in their expansion year. Zimmerman anchored the Nashville backline to a 309-minute playoff shutout streak, which set a new MLS record for most minutes played without allowing a goal in the playoffs.
In its inaugural season, Zimmerman and Nashville posted a goal-against average of 0.96 goals per game, the best of any expansion club in league history, and tied for the league-lead with nine clean sheets this season. The club allowed 22 goals this season, third fewest in the league, and only two goals more than the league leaders.
The MLS Best XI selection was a force on both sides of the ball. Offensively, Zimmerman scored three goals and registered one assist in 22 starts this season. Zimmerman scored the first goal in Nashville history on Feb. 29 in the club’s inaugural match. The 27-year-old U.S. Men’s National Team regular led MLS with 69 headed clearances, while his 64 aerials won were tied for sixth-most.
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