Final World Cup Squad Prediction

The final roster for the World Cup is scheduled to be announced today. After a friendly loss to the Czech Republic last night Bob Bradley should have his mind made up on everyone. The current list of 30 needs to be trimmed down by 7 to 23.  See my choices below.

Keepers
Tim Howard (Everton, England)
Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton, England)
Brad Guzan (Aston Villa, England)

All the keepers get to go.

Defense
Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes, France)
Jay DeMerit (Watford, England)
Jonathan Spector (West Ham, England)
Steve Cherundolo (Hanover, Germany)
Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA, MLS)
Clarence Goodson (Start, Norway)
Chad Marshall (Columbus, MLS)

Onyewu and Pearce don’t make the cut.  They both were poor last night.  I imagine Chad Marshall might be more likely to get cut if he didn’t impress during the camp, but I’m only going off the game from last night.  I think Goodson got a spot with a good performance.

Midfield
Michael Bradley (Moenchengladbach, Germany)
Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland)
Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany)
Stuart Holden (Bolton, England)
Jose Francisco Torres (Pachuca, Mexico)
Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus, Denmark)
Robbie Rogers (Columbus, MLS)
Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England)
Landon Donovan (Los Angeles, MLS)

Bedoya, Beasley and Kljestan get the cut from the midfielders.  Here I assume Beasley will be where I’m wrong but he just hasn’t impressed me over the past couple of years.

Strikers
Jozy Altidore (Hull City, England)
Brian Ching (Houston, MLS)
Edson Buddle (Los Angeles, MLS)
Herculez Gomez (Puebla, Mexico)

Findley and Johnson get the cut.  Seems like everyone else thing Gomez was the one guy that definitely earned his spot last night that might not have otherwise been there.  Ching was on the bubble for me.

30 man World Cup training camp roster announced

The 30 man roster for the World Cup training camp was announced just a little bit ago on ESPN News. The biggest news of this roster was the absence of striker Charlie Davies who was seriously injured in a car accident last year.

Here is the full list:

Keepers
Tim Howard (Everton, England)
Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton, England)
Brad Guzan (Aston Villa, England)

Defense
Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan, Italy)
Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes, France)
Jay DeMerit (Watford, England)
Jonathan Spector (West Ham, England)
Steve Cherundolo (Hanover, Germany)
Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA, MLS)
Clarence Goodson (Start, Norway)
Chad Marshall (Columbus, MLS)
Heath Pearce (FC Dallas, MLS)

Midfield
Michael Bradley (Moenchengladbach, Germany)
Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland)
Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany)
Stuart Holden (Bolton, England)
Jose Francisco Torres (Pachuca, Mexico)
Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus, Denmark)
Alejandro Bedoya (Orebro, Sweden)
Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA, MLS)
Robbie Rogers (Columbus, MLS)
DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland)
Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England)
Landon Donovan (Los Angeles, MLS)

Strikers
Jozy Altidore (Hull City, England)
Brian Ching (Houston, MLS)
Edson Buddle (Los Angeles, MLS)
Herculez Gomez (Puebla, Mexico)
Eddie Johnson (Aris, Greece)
Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake, MLS)

So who else is missing from this list that you might have expected to see here?

Gold Cup Roster Announced

Eight Major League Soccer sides will have representatives on the team that will represent the US in this summer’s Gold Cup.  Bob Bradley announced the roster today featuring 12 MLS players and 11 from outside MLS.  The Gold Cup is the number one priority for Bob Bradley this summer, so this should be his top team.   The US won the Gold Cup in 2005.  All of the players listed as forwards come from Major League Soccer.

MLS Members:

  • Steve Ralston
  • Taylor Twellman
  • Michael Parkhurst
  • Brian Ching
  • Ricardo Clark
  • Brad Guzan
  • Jonathan Bornstein
  • Landon Donovan
  • Pablo Mastroeni
  • Frankie Hejduk
  • Justin Mapp
  • Eddie Johnson

Non-MLS Member:

  • Tim Howard
  • Kasey Keller
  • Carlos Bocanegra
  • Jay DeMerit
  • Oguchi Onyewu
  • Frank Simek
  • Jonathan Spector
  • DaMarcus Beasley
  • Michael Bradley
  • Clint Dempsey
  • Benny Feilhaber