Bob Bradley released his 30 man roster for the pre-world cup camp and gave U.S. soccer fans several surprises. First, he actually took the full 30. Rumors were circulating he would only employ 27-28 spots.
Second, Charlie Davies was omitted from the roster for medical reasons. Bradley stated that Davies simply was not cleared by his club doctors and they could not take the risk. Understandable, but the omission is sad for Davies who had worked very hard to recover from multiple injuries suffered from a car accident last September.
Third, some interesting names surfaced on the roster that has already drawn the ire of message boards and blogs. I can admit that I was wrong on several of these guys. All my locks made the roster but after that there were several selections that I just simply did not see coming.
Here is the roster:
Goalkeepers- Tim Howard, Marcus Hahnemann, Brad Guzan
Defenders- Carlos Bocanegra, Oguchi Onyewu, Steve Cherundolo, Jonathan Spector, Jay DeMerit, Clarence Goodson, Jonathan Bornstein, Heath Pearce, Chad Marshall
Midfielders- Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, Stuart Holden, Ricardo Clark, Maurice Edu, Benny Feilhaber, Jose Francisco Torres, Alejandro Bedoya, DaMarcus Beasley, Sacha Kljestan, Robbie Rogers
Forwards- Jozy Altidore, Conor Casey, Brian Ching, Edson Buddle, Eddie Johnson, Herculez Gomez
Names I thought were surprises include Kljestan, Rogers, and Marshall. Kljestan has looked good in MLS but he is a shell of the player who merited a trail with Scottish club Celtic two years ago. He is a good player but seems to be the last option in a stacked central midfield. My pick to replace him would be Kyle Beckerman of Real Salt Lake.
Rogers may be the biggest surprise of them all. He simply has not looked good at all for Columbus this year. While he is still very young he is clearly being brought into camp because Bradley is familiar with him and he has been a part of the last few USMNT rosters. My pick to replace him would be Freddie Adu. There are a lot of Adu fan boys out there and I am not one of them. Truth be told I am not a big fan of his, but he has gotten consistent minutes for a top 4 club in Greece and produced assists and goals for that team down the stretch in league and tournament play.
Marshall in defense seems to be a surprise because he played his first full match this past weekend. With that said, Marshall was a staple for USMNT bench before his injury that allowed Goodson to take his spot. I fully expect him to be given the chance to battle with Goodson for the last defenders spot on the 23 man roster. I would have taken Nick Rimando as a 4th goalkeeper but that is irrelevant.
Truthfully, the best chance Kljestan, Rogers, and Marshall have of going to the world cup is if they buy tickets. As of right now these three combined with Pearce and three of Casey, Ching, Buddle, Johnson, and Gomez are the best bets not to make the team plane to South Africa.
With that said my way to early projection for the world cup 23 man roster:
Goalkeeper: Tim Howard, Brad Guzan, Marcus Hahnemann
Defense: Oguchi Oneywu, Carlos Bocanegra, Jay Demerit, Jonathan Bornstien, Jonathan Spector, Steve Cherundolo, Clarence Goodson
Midfield: Landon Donovan, Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu, Clint Dempsey, Ricardo Clark, Stuart Holden, Bennie Feilhaber, Jose Torres, DeMarcus Beasley, Alejandro Bedoya
Forward: Jozy Altidore, Brian Ching, Edson Buddle
Last on the roster: Alejandro Bedoya, Edson Buddle
Last off the roster: Herculez Gomez, Heath Pearce
What do you think about the roster?
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