In the next few days, USMNT Coach Bob Bradley will begin showing his cards and send out invitations to 28-30 players to join his camp in Princeton later this month.  Before those invitations go out, it is time for all the fans, pundits and blowhards to pipe in with our opinions on which 23 lucky souls should be on the plane to South Africa. 

So, without further ado, and with no Freddy Adu…here is my list:

Forwards – 4
Jozy Altidore
Brian Ching
Herculez Gomez
Edson Buddle

There is no thinner portion of the US team, made unfortunately thinner by the absence of Charlie Davies.  As dramatic as it would be to see Davies take the field next month, a mere eight months after his horrific car accident, it is just not going to happen.  Davies’ first competitive game, and his first test to see whether he has the ability to sprint, stop on a dime and pick out the right target, cannot be against England.  Sorry, but Charlie will have to wait until Brazil 14 to play in his first World Cup.

As for Gomez and Buddle, they get the slots in a slim field because they are doing the one thing that no other US forward is doing right now – scoring goals.  They may not be the best, but they are the best right now.

Midfield – 9
Michael Bradley
Maurice Edu
Landon Donovan
Clint Dempsey
Ricardo Clark
Stuart Holden
Jose Torres
Benny Feilhaber
Alejandro Bedoya

All of the sudden, the injured seem healthy, the substitutes are all starting, and our midfield seems surprisingly strong.  With Bradley, Donovan and Dempsey sure starters, the competition for that fourth slot in the midfield seems intense.  Edu has recovered from his injuries to become a critical player for Rangers.  Clark has recovered and is now starting and impressing for Frankfurt.  Torres has had an outstanding season for Pachuca.  Holden was doing great for Bolton before his injury and is back in full training.  If Holden impresses in the camp, he could slot in on the wing allowing Donovan or Dempsey to move into a forward slot.  Bedoya probably does not get in any game day roster, but as a rising star, going to South Africa would be a great experience.  Bob Bradley has a lot of tools in his midfield, and a lot of options on how to deploy them.

Defense – 7
Oguchi Onyewu
Carlos Bocanegra
Jonathan Spector
Clarence Goodson
Jonathan Bornstein
Jay DeMerit
Steve Cherundolo

With Gooch back in training with AC Milan, this all becomes a little easier than it was a couple of months ago.  It would be nice for Gooch to have a run out in AC Milan’s last couple of games, but at least he will show up in Princeton fit.  This allows Bradley to put in his preferred back line of Bocanegra, DeMerit, Gooch and Spector/Cherundolo.  At the moment, I would go with Cherundolo who seems to be playing better than Spector, but in either case, Bradley looks to have all the options for which he could have hoped.  The potential wildcard in all of this?  Goodson, who has had a rocking season in Norway and looked like the only American worth a damn in the January friendly against Honduras.

Goalkeeper – 3
Tim Howard
Marcus Hahnemann
Brad Guzan

Howard is the guaranteed starter, and barring something tragic, Hahnemann and Guzan will enjoy a pleasant seat at the festivities.  That being said, Hahnemann has been outstanding for Wolves this season – in fact a large measure of credit for the way Wolves has avoided relegation is down to Hahnemann’s work between the pipes.  He has been calm when needed, acrobatic when needed and positioned himself particularly well.  If Hahnemann’s affection for heavy metal music was the cause of his great form, Bradley would have the rest of the team listening to Slipknot all the time.

I can’t imagine any of these 23 not being invited to Princeton.  We will see who their competition is in the coming week.

We have more photos of the United States World Cup home shirt that we wanted to share with you. They’re courtesy of Nike from the launch of the new uniform which happened in New York City Thursday morning.

In the slideshow, you can see several interesting shots of the US World Cup home shirt, which grows on me the more I look at the pictures.

Also pictured is Walter Bahr, the United States soccer legend from the 1950 World Cup.

According to Nike, the new home jersey is white with an obsidian blue round-neck collar and a tonal grey sash across the front, which echoes the design of the U.S. Men’s National Team kit wore to defeat England sixty years ago. The jersey’s back neck features a graphic that reads ‘USA’, while inside is a graphic of a coiled rattlesnake. Symbolically placed above the heart on the back of U.S. Soccer Federation’s crest inside the jersey is a coiled rattlesnake accompanied by the defiant and inspiring message ‘DTOM’, which stands for ‘Don’t Tread On Me.’ This phrase has been used for more than two centuries in the United States, first by the colonies as a warning against the occupying English, and then featured on the Gadsen flag at the formation of the US Navy. In recent years both the US Marines and the U.S. Men’s National Team have used it as a patriotic rallying call.

The numbers on the back of the jersey are inspired by the famously bold and recognizable numerals used throughout collegiate and professional sports in the USA.

Not only was Wednesday’s game against Holland an opportunity for Bob Bradley to see how his team performs a side that maintains possession as much as England, but it was also an opportunity for the English press to witness first hand what they thought of the United States team and what threat they will pose to England this summer.

Based on the majority of the reaction, the English media were not impressed. Here are some of their choice quotes:

“[USA] were about as dangerous as a baseball slugger trying to hit home runs with a toothpick,” John Etheridge, The Sun.

“On a night when Fabio Capello may have been seeking consolation, there was some to be found here in the shape of a limited performance by England’s first World Cup opponents, the USA,” Michael Walker, The Daily Mail.

“In 100 years the United States have never scored a competitive goal against the Dutch and looked unlikely to do so here,” Oliver Brown, The Daily Telegraph.

“USA manager Bob Bradley claims several of the Premier League’s foreign managers want his team to beat England in Rustenburg on June 12. On this evidence, they are going to be disappointed,” John Etheridge, The Sun.

“They’re united but America are in no state to hurt Fabio Capello’s England,” The Daily Mail.

“[The United States] looked desperately short of quality in Amsterdam, failing to wrest possession from Holland, and their decision-making was poor,” George Caulkin, The Times.

What do you think? Do you think the UK media reaction was harsh or realistic? Share your opinions in the comments section below.

USMNT Head Coach Bob Bradley annouces roster for January Camp

A pair of Scandinavian stand outs as well as few MLS emerging stars headline Bob Bradley’s 30 man roster for the annual January training camp.  Rising MLS stars, Omar Gonzalez, Chris Pontius and Kevin Alston will have the opportunity to show their skills to Coach Bradley ahead of the opening of camp on January 4th. The camp leads up to the first match of a vital year for the US Men’s National Team, against Honduras on January 23rd.

The January camp typically includes the best players from MLS as well as the Scandinavian leagues which are on winter break. Although typically made up of players from MLS and Scandinavia, the January camp allows the brightest stars of the past MLS camp, a chance to show their worth with the national team. This year, such stands outs include MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Zach Thornton, MLS Champions Nick Rimando, Robbie Findley and Kyle Beckerman as well as MLS Golden Boot winner Jeff Cunningham among others. In addition to their MLS compatriots, several Scandinavian players join the mix including, Marcus Tracy and Alejandro Bedoya who have earned a place on Bradley’s radar with strong seasons in their respective leagues.

Here’s the complete roster:

GOALKEEPERS: Kevin Hartman (Kansas City), Troy Perkins (Valerenga), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake), Zach Thornton (Chivas USA)

DEFENDERS: Kevin Alston (New England Revolution), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles Galaxy), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC), Brandon McDonald (San Jose Earthquakes)

MIDFIELDERS: Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Alejandro Bedoya (Örebro), Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Jeff Larentowicz (New England Revolution), Dax McCarty (FC Dallas), Chris Pontius (D.C. United), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)

FORWARDS: Justin Braun (Chivas USA), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Jeff Cunningham (FC Dallas), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake),  Marcus Tracy (Aalborg)

What are your thoughts on this roster? Who do you feel should have been included? Who should have been excluded?

Testify in the comments below.

The Galaxy are one victory from reaching MLS Cup 2009 thanks to 2009 Coach of the Year Bruce Arena

The Los Angeles Galaxy began the 2009 season at best as a team in transition, at worst as a team in turmoil. Despite initial problems, the Galaxy now stands only one game from winning the Western Conference. After dispatching city rival Chivas USA in what could only be called the “Battle of Los Angeles”, the LA Galaxy turn their attention to the next task at hand on the road to MLS Cup 2009 – the Western Conference Final against the Houston Dynamo (Friday, 8PM PST – ESPN2).  After a three season absence, “The Flagship Club of MLS” is  one match away from playing for the MLS Cup for an unprecedented sixth time. Before this dream can become a reality, the Galaxy must take on an experienced Dynamo side that is playing in their third conference final in four years.

Los Angeles won the season series with Texas based club (1-0-1) winning at Home Depot Center, 1-0 on June 29th, which snapped La Naranja’s team record 11 game unbeaten streak.  Following the victory over then top of the table Houston, the Galaxy began their transformation from also rans – 2-3-9 before the match against the Dynamo – to the top club in the Western Conference with a 10-3-3 tally after the win. This dramatic turn around can be attributed to the influence of newly named Coach of the Year Bruce Arena, who instituted a personnel change such as  the addition of  former US international defender Gregg Berhalter, who brought in a winning mentality into the team as well as a wealth of experience for the Galaxy’s myriad of young defenders.

“The attitude is better (under Arena), you always hear the team buying in to the coaching philosophy and that is exactly what we have done here. I can’t remember a time this year that a player has stepped up to management due to a lack of playing time. We all respect the decisions of Bruce (Arena) and Dave (Strachan) and are ready when called upon,” said forward Landon Donovan in a recent teleconference.

The improved chemistry in the locker room can only serve to help the Galaxy in what is sure to be a contentious 90 minutes.  The last match these two played against one another was a heated affair that saw Brian Ching sent off after a ruckus caused by a challenge on Ricardo Clark by midfielder David Beckham.  Over the two legs of the regular season series between the teams there were a total of 9 yellow cards as well as the one red card issued for violent conduct to the Houston forward.

One of the major impediments to Galaxy’s progress will be Brian Ching, who scored the series winning goal against the Seattle Sounders in the first overtime on Sunday, putting the Dynamo in the West Final. The captain of the Houston Dynamo has enjoyed a very successful season picking up several honors including the Dynamo’s Golden Boot for leading the team in goals scored with eight. Despite the danger that he poses, Ching is a familiar entity for Arena, who coached the Hawaiian forward during much of his career with the United States Men’s National Team.

“He’s a complete goal scorer and requires complete concentration from your back line. Brian is a true goal scorer, he can be hiding for certain segments of games but when he has an opportunity to jump on a chance, he’s there as we saw last game against Seattle. Overall,  He’s a proven goal scorer in big games and we have to be really focused on the challenge of dealing Brian on Friday night,” said the 2009 MLS Coach of the Year.

Ultimately because of their improved chemistry and cohesion on the field, Los Angeles is on the brink of their sixth appearance in the MLS Cup Final.

CONCACAF World Cup Qualification begins the home stretch tonight as round one of the hexagonal begins and what a clash to start out with. The weather is miserable, but not cold in Columbus and the United States only have Mexico to contend with. Can the United States get off on the right foot? Will this be Sven’s final game in charge? In reality, this game sells itself.

Join us in the MLS Talk Chat as we discuss all things United States v Mexico from Crew Stadium. No registration is required.