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Pay attention! Important U.S. national team news is hidden in here

Here’s your all-important U.S. roster for the next week’s trip to the land of dikes and funky wooden Dutch shoes. Study up, because you can bet a perfectly poured Guinness this is pretty close to what the final 23-man roster will be this summer – well, minus the small army of walking wounded. If all the U.S. casualties of the moment were being treated by the same doc, the office would look like lunch rush at the In N Out.

Clint Dempsey, Charlie Davies, Ricardo Clark, Oguchi Onyewu, Steve Cherundolo and Benny Feilhaber are all unavailable due to injury. Otherwise, here ‘tis, the 20 named today for next week’s match in Amsterdam against the Oranje:

 

GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Tim Howard (Everton)

DEFENDERS (7): Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jay DeMerit (Watford), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Frank Simek (Sheffield Wednesday), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)

MIDFIELDERS (7): DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers), Alejandro Bedoya (Orebro), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Landon Donovan (Everton), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Stuart Holden (Bolton Wanderers), José Torres (Pachuca)

FORWARDS (3): Jozy Altidore (Hull City), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Eddie Johnson (Aris Thessaloniki)

 

Click forth and then lean in for the important math.

Star-divide

There are 20 names listed. You can rest assured that Dempsey, Onyewu, Feilhaber and Cherundolo will be on this summer’s roster if they are healthy, and all are expected to be. So will Davies if he can pull off this stunning recovery, although I continue to have my doubts. Clark? He’s still on the bubble – but still in the fight.

So if you don’t count Clark or Davies, that adds up to 24. We all know, more or less, who is safe. And we all know, more or less, who has just one foot in South Africa and still needs to do something to propel himself over the finish line.  Go ahead and add Sacha Kljestan,  Brian Ching and perhaps Chad Marshall into the “still in the fight” list. Otherwise …

 

Here’s where today’s announcement is quite telling: If you haven’t seen a name mentioned so far in this post, he probably shouldn’t be studying up on great dinner spots in South Africa. Freddy Adu, Kenny Cooper, Chris Rolfe, Kyle Beckerman, Robbie Rogers, Frankie Hejduk, Jermaine Jones, Jeff Cunningham, Brad Davis, Jimmy Conrad, Marvell Wynne … it ain’t lookin’ good, fellows.  Some of those are clearly filed under “No kidding!”  But for a player who is healthy, but not on next week's roster, that's as close to “official” as you’re going to get in early March. And obviously, there are plenty of others who have been in a U.S. shirt over the last year (Geoff Cameron, Brad Evans, Edgar Castillo, etc.), but they have clearly been long shots all along.

 

Injuries do happen, so things can still change. But we know a lot more this afternoon than we did this morning.

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When will U.S. Soccer formally announce the World Cup roster?

"My face is my mask."

by Jake Shapiro on Feb 25, 2010 6:26 PM EST reply actions  

What about Sasha?

Your thoughts? I am not sure where he resides, on or off the WC roster.

by misfit15 on Feb 25, 2010 6:32 PM EST reply actions  

oops!

Yeah, Sacha should have been listed alongside Ching and Marshall. (fixed now. thanks)

by Steve Davis on Feb 25, 2010 7:10 PM EST up reply actions  

Ching is more than "still in the fight"

I think Ching being left off means that Bradley has seen what he needed to see from Ching and that he is in. Ching looks as good as ever and hes our only real option at his role.

by GeoJock on Feb 25, 2010 7:09 PM EST reply actions  

Ching is an option

I don’t think you can say a guy looks as good as ever after 45 minutes of play against a El Salvador “B” squad and getting a head on a brilliantly played ball. Ching is what Ching is, a good target player, but you only have to look at his injury issues over the last couple years to know that he is a risky choice. He can be a force when 100% fit and healthy, or he can play in half his teams matches and score 8 goals over a season. I do like Ching as a target guy more than Casey, that is clear but our “only option” not by a long shot.

by denz on Feb 26, 2010 9:00 AM EST up reply actions  

No mention of Eddie Gaven? Thought he played a good game against El Salvador the other night. Are his odds of making the squad so bad you didn’t even mention him?

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by Andrew Tolliver on Feb 26, 2010 9:01 AM EST reply actions  

Afraid not

If the guy didn’t start in the friendly against El Salvador, he really doesn’t have much chance. Ching didn’t start, but that’s a different story. He’s an established guy in the player pool. At the moment Gaven appears to be behind Holden, Rogers and Davis at roughly the same position (reserve outside mid)

by Steve Davis on Feb 26, 2010 11:34 AM EST up reply actions  

Surprised by Eddie Johnson?

I know he used to be a guy we were looking at as a budding star but thought he’d kinda trailed off. Do you see him having a good chance with all the forward uncertainty?

by I need more Esteban on Feb 26, 2010 5:30 PM EST reply actions  

no Connor Casey

I think Connor Casey should go to South Africa if he is healthy. I do not know if he has played in previous world cups but I think having a striker of his size would be a great asset in South Africa.

by onedayclose on Feb 26, 2010 11:42 PM EST reply actions  

i am surprised jermaine jones is not on the roster. any chance he gets on it though. i mean the guy applies to fifa to let him play for us and he wont even make the team.

by Lancers25 on Feb 27, 2010 12:51 AM EST reply actions  

Injuries really hurt his chances

He’ll be lucky if he’s healthy by the WC. But if he’s healthy by then, maybe he’ll have a chance.

Insanity is just a state of mind.

by KTJ on Feb 27, 2010 12:56 AM EST up reply actions  

Size of roster

I would think Bradley will gather a 30 man squad in May and narrow it down for the FIFA deadline (June 1?).

Stuart Holden was outstanding for Bolton today in central role. I wonder where he will play for the US, and how often.

by Dennis Chase on Feb 27, 2010 8:22 PM EST reply actions  

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