Niua and Baker in, Ebner out for Men’s Eagles in LA

The USA Men’s Eagles won’t be able to call upon Nate Ebner at the Quest For Gold Sevens in Los Angeles this weekend, but they will celebrate the dramatic return of two star players from injury. Folau Niua and Perry Baker will both take the field in the final warm-up for the Olympics.

Ebner had earlier declared his eligibility for the side but injuries kept him from playing any competitive matches. The 32-year-old NFL player was part of the team that finished 9th at the Rio Olympics and was hoping to make the Tokyo selection.

Niua has finally recovered from a badly broken leg that has kept him sidelined since June of 2019. His playmaking ability will be welcomed along with the world class finishing of Perry Baker, whose own lower leg injury suffered in February threated to take him out of contention.

Mike Friday will have a full strength squad with 22 players named for the tournament. The Eagles will play against Argentina, Great Britain, Kenya, and Korea. A final squad of 12 plus traveling reserves for the Olympics will be confirmed on July 2.

USA MEN’S EAGLES
Perry Baker, Danny Barrett, Pat Blair, Ben Broselle, Maceo Brown, Gavan D’Amore-Morrison, Christian Dyer, Malacchi Esdale, Naima Fuala’au, Madison Hughes, Martin Iosefo, Carlin Isles, Matai Leuta, Cody Melphy, Folau Niua, Ben Pinkelman, Joe Schroeder, Brett Thompson, Stephen Tomasin, Marcus Tupuola, Anthony Welmers, Kevon Williams