From US Soccer: After sharing the spoils from the opening match against England, the U.S. confronts the match which has been considered for months to be a likely pivotal encounter against Slovenia. The picture is fairly clear going in: a win would give the United States one foot in the door to the knockout phase, a tie keeps the hopes alive, and a loss would nearly close the window on any chances of advancing. They face a Slovenia team brimming with confidence after its 1-0 win against Algeria put them on top of Group C and knowing a victory Friday would guarantee a first ever trip to the second round.
The game will be difficult as the Slovenian’s will come out in a defensive set, a model that will make it that much harder for the American’s. Soccer America offers some background in Slovenia Will Be A Tricky Foe
If Slovenia, as Landon Donovan proclaimed to the world a few days ago, is indeed a team the U.S. should — and must — beat on Friday in Johannesburg, therein lies a problem. In World Cup qualifying, in the Gold Cup and occasionally in friendlies, the Americans struggle when the opponent sits back and dares them to make the game, which Slovenia can do as group leader.
And despite Donovan’s assertion, there’s not much grounding for confidence when the opposition is from Europe.
U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION (All-Time World Cup Roster Appearances)
GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (2010), Marcus Hahnemann (2006, 2010), Tim Howard (2006, 2010)
DEFENDERS (7): Carlos Bocanegra (2006, 2010), Jonathan Bornstein (2010), Steve Cherundolo (2002, 2006, 2010), Jay DeMerit (2010), Clarence Goodson (2010), Oguchi Onyewu (2006, 2010), Jonathan Spector (2010)
MIDFIELDERS (9): DaMarcus Beasley (2002, 2006, 2010), Michael Bradley (2010), Ricardo Clark (2010), Clint Dempsey (2006, 2010), Landon Donovan (2002, 2006, 2010), Maurice Edu (2010), Benny Feilhaber (2010), Stuart Holden (2010), José Torres (2010)
FORWARDS (4): Jozy Altidore (2010), Edson Buddle (2010), Robbie Findley (2010), Herculez Gomez (2010)
Detailed Roster
“We have been working for almost four years to reach this point, and we are grateful to all the players who have been part of the process. There is a tremendous amount of respect for the efforts and professionalism that everyone has put into building this team,” said Bradley. “It’s important in any team building process to get to the final 23, and clearly there were some tough decisions to make. We are confident that this is a group of players that will work together and be committed to doing whatever it takes to be successful. We feel the roster has a good balance of players who have been a part of previous World Cups, those who have gained great experience in qualifying and Confederations Cup and some newer faces that have proved they belong. We are extremely excited to play the final Send-Off match in Philadelphia and then begin the great challenge of playing in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.”
The U.S. squad carries a variety of World Cup experience into South Africa, as fifteen players have been named to their first World Cup roster. Meantime, six players have played in a World Cup game, with midfielder Landon Donovan leading the team with eight appearances – all as a starter – while DaMarcus Beasley has six World Cup caps to his credit. That duo and Steve Cherundolo are earning a place in their third World Cup.
CHICAGO (May 11, 2010) — U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Bob Bradley has submitted to FIFA the 30-man preliminary roster for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. From this list, a squad of 23 players must be chosen by June 1 for the final roster that will travel to South Africa. The 30 players will begin reporting to Princeton, N.J., on May 15 for the start of training camp, with field sessions beginning two days later.
The U.S. will face two of the traditionally stronger teams from Europe in the Czech Republic and Turkey in the Send-Off Series prior to departing for South Africa. The match against Czech Republic on May 25 in East Hartford, CT will be broadcast live on ESPN and Galavision. The final home tune-up match against Turkey will be played May 29 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. ESPN2 and Galavision will broadcast the match live. ESPN will be airing a special 30-minute pre-game show.
U.S. TRAINING CAMP ROSTER BY POSITION – Detailed Roster
GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton)
DEFENDERS (9): Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Jay DeMerit (Watford), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)
MIDFIELDERS (12): DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers), Alejandro Bedoya (Örebro), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Stuart Holden (Bolton), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), José Torres (Pachuca)
FORWARDS (6): Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Edson Buddle (Los Angeles Galaxy), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Herculez Gomez (Puebla), Eddie Johnson (Aris Thessaloniki)
“Throughout the past three years a number of players have contributed to our journey toward South Africa and we appreciate all of their efforts,” said Bradley. “We are very excited to get this group together to begin our pre-World Cup training camp as we continue to prepare for the challenge of the World Cup.”
The U.S. team will depart for South Africa on May 30, arriving the following day. The United States will play Australia on June 5 in Roodepoort, South Africa, one week before playing its first match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Kickoff at Ruimsig Stadium in suburban Johannesburg is set for 2:30 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m. ET), and the match will be broadcast live on ESPN2.
The U.S. Men’s National Team has been drawn into Group C with England, Slovenia and Algeria for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The U.S. will open its sixth consecutive World Cup finals tournament against England on June 12 in Rustenburg, and will follow that game with matches against Slovenia on June 18 in Johannesburg and Algeria on June 23 in Tshwane/Pretoria.
Today is countdown day here at SGFsoccer.com for World Cup coverage. I opened with today’s story about our local Siemen’s Turblex team and I’m working to offer a story a day leading up to kickoff on June 11th. What is important tomorrow? According to the 2010 FIFA World Cup Regulations, the 32 qualified teams must provide a list of up to 30 players by 11 May (midnight CET).
- FIFA will publish this list on 13 May (noon CET) on its official website FIFA.com.
- The release of players on this list is mandatory as of 17 May 2010.
- The deadline for the 32 teams to provide a final list of 23 players is 1 June 2010 (midnight CET).
- The final list is limited to players on the release list provided on 11 May.
- However, seriously injured players may be replaced up to 24 hours before the team’s first match, as mentioned in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Regulations.
- Replacement players for injured players are not limited to the release list provided on 11 May.
So, who can we expect? The last time the US Team played was in March when they lost to the Netherlands. Here’s the roster from that day:
What do you think? Any predictions? UPDATE – according to Grant Wahl, U.S. 30-man list for World Cup (which has to be pared to 23 by June 1) to be released at 1 pm CT Tue on ESPNNews.
We’ve got a nice treat to wrap up the holiday weekend. The US Women are playing Canada on Monday at 6:00 pm in a friendly that will be broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel. This match will be the first of a three-game summer series with Canada as the USA will also face its northern neighbor on July 19 in Rochester, N.Y and on July 22 in Charleston, S.C.
This match marks the return of Abby Wambach to the U.S. lineup for the first time since she suffered a broken leg against Brazil on July 16, 2008, in the USA’s final game before the Olympics. Wambach has 99 career goals and will be looking for her historic 100th career score in Toronto.
Meanwhile, Bob Bradley has named the 24 man roster that will begin training on Tuesday for a pair of upcoming World Cup 2010 Qualifying matches.
The U.S. will be seeking its first-ever victory away to Costa Rica when they meet at Estadio Saprissa in the fourth match of the 10-game final round of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Kickoff on June 3 is set for 9 p.m. CT, and the match will be broadcast live on the ESPN Networks.
Three days later, the city of Chicago will host its first World Cup qualifier when the U.S. welcomes Honduras to Soldier Field. More than 40,000 tickets have been sold for the USA’s third home match of the final round, where the U.S. will face the team who delivered them their last home loss in World Cup qualifying, a 3-2 defeat on Sept. 1, 2001, at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. The match will be broadcast live at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN Classic and Galavision.
I’ll be reporting live from the game and am looking forward to visiting Chicago and taking in the game as you can imagine. If anyone else is planning on attending, let me know. I’ll be hanging out with a bunch of soccer friends and you’re welcome to join us.
The U.S. is in first place in the final round hexagonal with an undefeated 2-0-1 record. Costa Rica sits one point behind, while Honduras holds the third position. The top three teams will automatically qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
And for you ESPN junkies out there, hopefully you’ve seen or can catch later today the special feature on goalie Tim Howard. ESPN reporter Chris Connelly and a crew traveled to England to sit down with Howard in advance of England’s FA Cup final between Everton and Chelsea on May 30 at famed Wembley Stadium. Howard has been spectacular in goal for the Toffees, recording a club record 16 shutouts. After defeating his former club and newly crowned English Premier League champion Manchester United in the semifinal, Everton are within sight of their first trophy since 1995.
From US Soccer – “With the match falling on an international fixture date, this is an excellent opportunity to get the nucleus of our team together as we continue to prepare for World Cup qualifying,” said Head Coach Bob Bradley, who has collected a 13-5-1 record since becoming head coach last year. “The special nature of a USA-Mexico match provides a great test for our players, and it is something that as players and coaches we all look forward to. The experience can only benefit our group as we attempt to build a team that will help us achieve to goal of competing in South Africa in 2010.”
Seven players on the roster were on the field when the teams last met in the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup final. In front of more than 60,000 fans in Chicago, goals by Landon Donovan and Benny Feilhaber lifted the U.S. to a 2-1 victory and their second consecutive Gold Cup title.
Bradley has called on a dozen players from European-based clubs, including the Fulham duo of Carlos Bocanegra and Clint Dempsey. Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard joins the U.S. fold after a stellar year in 2007, appearing in a career-high 10 matches and earning eight victories. Everton are currently in fourth place in the English Premier League table. SC Heerenveen midfielder Michael Bradley enters the camp in fine form in league play, having scored six goals in his team’s last five matches to help elevate Heerenveen into second place in the Dutch Eredivisie.
Note – Taylor Twellman was part of training camp leading up to Wednesday’s match but was not chosen for the game after straining a groin muscle late last week, the latest in a string of injuries that have helped keep him off the pitch for the US
