General

Who Will Be The Final 23 To Represent the U.S. At The World Cup?

May 26, 2010, 2:00 PM UTC

â†µThe United States Men’s National Team lost its friendly match to the Czech Republic, 4-2, Tuesday night in Hartford, Connecticut. Before the match, ESPN analyst Alexi Lalas seemed convinced that Bob Bradley knew who was going to make his final World Cup roster well before the first whistle. So, with the likes of Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard, Jozy Altidore, Carlos Bocanegra and a host of other starters not even dressing for the match, was there any point to even playing?â†µ

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â†µâ†µOf course there was. Despite what Lalas suspected – and many soccer pundits felt, as well – the roster wasn’t written in stone before Tuesday’s match. Heck, even if all 23 were decided before they walked onto the field, there was still a lot to learn, and some positions still worth fighting for if you were one of the seven players who will be left behind when the team leaves for South Africa on Monday. So, what did we learn?â†µ

â†µâ†µBack Lineâ†µ
â†µ• We learned that Oguchi Onyewu isn’t as healthy as Bob Bradley wants him to be. Maybe it’s just a matter of getting back into form after missing seven months rehabbing a knee injury. But Gooch got beat on a ball in the air for the Czech squad’s first goal, and seemed to be laboring a bit while tracking down the ball. Could it be just a matter of shaking off the rust? Sure. But if it’s more than that, it could change Bradley’s thinking with one of the last rosters spots. â†µ

â†µâ†µ• We learned that Clarence Goodson could play a very important role on this team, especially if Onyewu is unable to perform at a high enough level.â†µ

â†µâ†µ• We learned that depth is a real issue with the defense. The defense didn’t look stellar last night, but only Gooch and game captain Steve Cherundolo figure to be potential starters. As Aaron Stollar of BigSoccer.com asked last night, can Bradley assume that Gooch will be able to play a full 90 against England and bounce back for the team’s next match with full fitness? The other two spots should be secured by Jay DeMerit and team captain Bocanegra, with Jonathan Spector in the mix as well. Did Goodson play his way into the rotation? Are those players we expect to start really healthy enough to make a deep run in the tournament?â†µ

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â†µ• We learned that Chad Marshall couldn't get on the field with the reserves, so he's the obvious first cut of the 30. And we learned that Jonathan Bornstein will, in fact, make the roster if for no other reason than he proved to be the lesser of two evils with Heath Pearce.â†µ

â†µâ†µ• We learned that versatility is very important to Bradley. Plugging Maurice Edu into the back line after starting in the midfield, and moving the likes of Bornstein or even DeMarcus Beasley around the field has obviously helped their chances of making it to South Africa.â†µ

â†µâ†µMidfieldâ†µ
â†µ• We didn’t learn much about those who will log the bulk of the time for the U.S. midfield with Donovan, Michael Bradley, Ricardo Clark and Benny Feilhaber sitting in the stands. Well, in the case of Feilhaber, maybe we did. There’s a groundswell of support for Jose Torres to not only make the team, but to play. Torres has proven to be a calming influence in the midfield and worked well last night with Edu. With Edu locking himself up a spot on the team, and likely some extensive playing time, there are (for once) too many viable midfield options for the team. â†µ

â†µâ†µ• If Donovan, Clark and Bradley take up three of the midfield slots – and you assume Dempsey starts the match up top with Altidore – there is only one remaining midfield slot to start each match. Does that go to Benny? Has Stuart Holden shown enough? If he’s fit, yes. But what about Edu? Or Torres? Have I overvalued Clark’s lock on a starting spot with the performance of some of the projected reserves? Again, this is a good problem to have. â†µ

â†µâ†µ• As for who makes the final 23, we learned that most likely that list won’t include Robbie Rogers or Sacha Kljestan. Grant Wahl from SI.com thinks that if Bradley doesn’t take Pearce as his ninth defender, that Alejandro Bedoya could make the squad to add some midfield depth (and allow Beasley or Edu to fill in on the back line if needed). Some folks, including those at The Shin Guardian (with a great recap, by the way), still think Rogers may have an outside chance to make the team. I do not.â†µ

â†µâ†µFront Lineâ†µ
â†µ• Altidore and Dempsey didn’t play, and it seems that will be the primary tandem up front for the USMNT. If the team needs an offensive punch, they can always drop Dempsey back to an offensive midfield position and bring in another striker. Who that player will be is still, just a few hours from the official decision, up for debate.â†µ

â†µâ†µ• We know that if Herculez Gomez is going to make the team, his goal against the Czech Republic is exactly the reason why. Gomez won’t start, but will be expected to come off the bench and provide an offensive spark. He did just that on Tuesday, scoring the second goal for the home side. Soccer By Ives got Bradley’s thoughts on Gomez:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥“Herculez played his way into the camp with his performance at Puebla,” Bradley said. “It was based upon goals, and in some cases coming on as a sub and scoring.â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥“When you have him in camp you get to assess a lot of things. Some plays tonight still, for me, need to be better, but obviously, he scored a goal, and that’s very important in this whole thing.”â†µâ‡¥

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â†µâ†µ• We know that Brian Ching has played well enough to make the roster. Now, whether he gets on the field is another issue (I suspect he could see some time if Altidore gets gassed, or is ineffective, in the second half of a group game). Wahl thinks Dempsey, Altidore, Ching and Gomez will be the group that Bradley selects, with Robbie Findley, Eddie Johnson and Edson Buddle on the outside. But Buddle started the match – before being replaced by Gomez – so at the very least he has been given every chance to prove himself. â†µ

â†µâ†µJon Tannenwald of Philly.com’s blog The Goalkeeper told me this morning that he thinks Buddle will, in fact, make the squad. There’s something to be said for the USMNT being represented by those from MLS. Politics won’t win you a World Cup, but the role they play in filling out a roster shouldn’t be overlooked. That said, Ives tweeted that Bradley didn’t give Buddle a ringing endorsement, suggesting that the final spot could come down to him or Bedoya.â†µ

â†µâ†µWhat We Know…â†µ
â†µWhat we really know is this: at 1 p.m. today we’ll know the 23 men who will get on a plane this week to represent our country in the biggest sporting event in the world. Who we actually expect to get on the field … well, there are more than two weeks to debate that.â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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