Is Today The Beginning or the End of Charlie Davies’ 2010 World Cup Dream?

↵Thirty players will be chosen for the U.S. Men’s National Team preliminary roster in advance of the World Cup, with the squad’s selection being announced live on ESPNews at 2 p.m. ET. From those 30 players, 23 will be chosen for the final World Cup roster that must be submitted to FIFA by June 1.↵

↵↵Today’s the last day we can speculate if Charlie Davies will be one of the names to make either list. First, of course, is making the list of 30 that will be announced today and that’s a decision that seems solely up to Bob Bradley and his staff. Davies has seemed determined to make it onto the pitch at the World Cup, and if you’ve followed his recovery after the horrific car crash late last year, you know how far he’s come. But has he come far enough? ↵

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↵↵Davies recently spoke with The Shin Guardian about his chances:↵

↵↵⇥TSG: There have been a lot of reports, erroneous reports it would appear, conjecture, about your “readyness” this week. Care to make a statement on that?↵⇥↵⇥CD: I’m doing everything I possibly can to make sure I try to get into a match before the end of this year. It’s been stated that I had no chance.↵⇥Of course my president thought a month ago, my president thought I wouldn’t be able to get back on the field.↵⇥I’ve come a long way and I still have a little ways to go, but I think I’ll be ready to play in a match.↵⇥I still have a little ways to go, but I expect to play.↵⇥

↵⇥↵⇥TSG: Do you expect to make the World Cup 30-man roster next week? (This interview was conducted on May 6th.)↵⇥

↵⇥↵⇥CD: I hope to. I’m just hoping I just get a chance to get into the camp, continue to progress and hopefully step into camp feeling great and working hard. And then of course it’s about getting into that final 23.↵⇥

↵⇥↵⇥It’s been my goal since getting out of the hospital bed and into a wheelchair, since getting on crutches. Training. All this pain. I don’t think I worked this hard to come up short. I’ll make sure if I get called up, I’ll be ready. ↵⇥

↵↵The rest of the Q&A is very insightful as well, so please click through to check it out. It ends with Davies saying, “keep believing…and it’s not over until the fat lady sings.” Well, Charlie, the fat lady is definitely in the room today. It’ll be up to Bradley whether or not she sings.↵↵Davies has been upfront about the crash, and has taken responsibility for breaking curfew after the USMNT qualified for the World Cup. In his words, “I have paid dearly. You learn from it. You grow from it, I’ll be better for it.” ↵

↵↵While no one doubts he’s already a better person having gone through this mental and physical recovery, it’s up to Bradley and his staff to determine if Davies is a better soccer player. ↵

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↵↵That’s what most fans – I’ll admit, myself included – seem to have conveniently forgotten in this story. Davies has come so far in his recovery that we excuse the fact that he hasn’t played in a match since October and isn’t yet back into game shape (note: he does hope to play in his club team’s match on May 15). Bradley can’t care about a “feel good” story when he needs players who can perform and help him win matches. With just 23 players making the final squad, there isn’t much room for anyone who would be a liability on the field. Is Bradley willing to take the chance that Davies wouldn’t be just that? ↵

↵↵Most of us have been so wrapped up in Davies’ recovery with the singular focus of making this World Cup team that we want it as badly as he does. It would be great PR for the USMNT to invite Davies into camp to let him earn a spot, but can Bradley be concerned about PR at this point in the team’s preparation? Besides, Davies got in this accident while breaking a USMNT rule. Clearly his injuries have been punishment enough, but should the staff just excuse the fact that his injuries were sustained while breaking a team rule just because he worked so hard to get back? We’ve come to root for Davies more than, perhaps, any player in USMNT history, but would bringing him in to camp – or putting him on the roster – if he’s not ready be fair to the last man left off the team?↵

↵↵That said, you know what you have with Robbie Rogers or Freddy Adu or Sacha Kljestan. Bringing Davies to camp as one of the 30 preliminary roster players would give Bradley a chance to see how he can compete at the international level. First, he’d have to out-perform the likes of Gomez or Ching or Buddle to show he’s back in form (that could allow Clint Dempsey to move back to the midfield as opposed to bringing one of the aforementioned candidates in Rogers, Adu or Kljestan). Next, he’d get two opportunities with the USMNT to play international friendly matches before Bradley has to submit his final roster to FIFA. So, should Davies get an invite, the staff will have ample opportunity to see if he deserves a spot on the final roster. ↵

↵↵All anyone, including Davies, can ask for is a chance. So will the fat lady be singing today, or will the rest of us?↵

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