First - Looks like a similar situation faced by MLS last season with the WC - many of the marquee players will be absent from up to 6 teams- leaving teams with untapped starting line-ups (like DCU) the opportunity to hammer the depleted teams.

Second - Half of the players called-up have 5 caps or fewer - signs of fresh blood on the roster.

should michael bradely's inclusion raise an eyebrow, or is he actually a decent player?

Nothing to crazy. It looks like the roster most people would have expected.

I guess I'm still not 100% convinced on Mapp but at least DCU won't lose anyone.

First, I am surprised that Ching got the call. Not that I don't think he is good, but I thought Bradley was going to focus on players who are playing well right now.

Second, this seems like a good mix of the new and old to help the young guys get experience for qualification and yet still be strong enough to seriously challenge for the trophy. I am dying to see who will be on the roster for the game 4 days after the US wins the Gold Cup... (that would be the opening game of the Copa America against Argentina, on which I have already made all kinds of wagers in my office!)

Michael Bradley is a great young player and deserves to be on the roster.

Bradley is a decent player - especially with the 'fresh blood' on the roster.

To add to Mickey's comment, during the time of the Gold Cup, we play LA, Colorado and Chicago, all of which have one player called up (Donovan, Pablo and Mapp).

Players will not report until 5/29 so Houston will still have Ching and Clark this weekend.

I like Bradley. I feel he's proven he belongs in the National Pool.

After seeing this roster though, I wonder what the forward lineup will look like for Copa America.

I was hoping that Keller would have been saved for the Copa.

So who is left over? hahneman/reis, convey, mcbride(?), Casey...

Off topic, but it's interesting that there are 3 St. Louis natives on the roster.

I've always heard anecdotally that St. Louis is a thriving soccer market, and maybe this is too small a statistical sample to mean anything, but there sure are some decent players coming from that area.

Any chance MLS considers St. Louis for expansion anytime soon?

I agree wuth everyone else, nothing really shocking. I am more intrigued to find out who will be on the roster for the Copa America. I would say Rolfe, Beckerman, Boswell, Convey, Altidore, Herculez Gomez, that is all I could think of at the moment.

what's going on with convey?

"So who is left over?"

-McBride retired from int'l play.
-Convey is recovering from knee surgery for the injury he suffered in the WC. Even if he's fully recovered, he's not fit and Reading would be foolish to risk him again.
-Casey? 38' in 2 games with the Crapids. Maybe he's not healthy yet.
-Hahnemann/Reis? Maybe in Copa America

Ching's inclusion makes sense because does very well (only?) when playing with Donovan.

If St. Louis residents guarantee success, let's get Ty Keogh and Walter Bahr back.

In response to "bob's" question as to Copa candidates - Hahneman has been given assurances by Bob that he is in consideration for the job but will not be called-up for either tournament this summer due in large part to the beatings he took at Reading (currently nursing a broken hand) and McBride retired from international play.

I'm surprised that Convey was left off this roster. I know we need him for Copa, but with the year he had for Reading, I would have thought he might make this one. Maybe he'll be more psyched for Copa.

I predict DC loses Namoff and Boswell to Gold Cup camp.

Is Conrad going to Copa?

I'm actually surprised Bradley (Sr.) didn't pull more punches with this lineup and save more guys for Copa America. This is pretty much the 'A' Squad with no notable omissions. So who's playing in July?

Convey was hurt and is rehabbing.

Big spread between oldest and youngest as well - Keller (1969) is almost old enough to be Bradley's father (1987).

Not to assist in highjacking the thread, but I agree that St. Louis has always been a hotbed (at least for the middle of the country) for soccer. How is it that Kansas City got an MLS team instead of SL? And what about moving the Wiz to SL?

Hahnemann badly broke his hand in Reading's season finale. He just had surgery on it (involving a lot of screws and whatnot) and is now rehabbing. He discussed the injury and other stuff on Glenn Davis' radio show earlier this week (there's a podcast available).

To Longfellow: No, Michael Bradley's inclusion should not raise an eyebrow - he is a very good, young player.
The only names I'm not thrilled to see are Ralston and Hejduk, simply because there's really no chance either will be in the mix for 2010. I guess Bradley's trying to mix experience with youth and make sure that he wins the tournament.
I hope to see Conrad in Copa America; I think he WILL be around in 2010.

Parkhurst? For real? Well...

Thanks Bobby for depleting the number one team in the east.

Also, I still find it hard to believe no DC players get the call. It is good news, but I hhope it is not leading to a Rev's type depletion later in the season for the Copa...

Hejduk is a head scratcher. Long should be the days of the one-dimensional Cobi Jones types. There's better long term talent in that spot: Cherundolo, Dasan or Eddie Robinson, Health Pearce. Would defintely like to see Cooper in the regular rotation. He appears to have the characteristics to fill the McBride type void, but needs more international experience. Ching, Twellman & Johnson just seem to disappear on the field.

Who's left? The only chance we have in South America is our best defenders who play in England. Hope they're carried over.

wow but Keller is a lot older than everyone else on the roster. there's only a handful of guys born in the 70s (and then mostly late 70s) and there he is rockin' the '69. the only guys within 5 years of him are Ralston and Hejduk.

I see struggles coming in C-bus as they will thoroughly miss Hey-dude, the Revs with so many gone, Gals since Albright is out and L Don is so much of what they do, and Chivas since they will now have to use Burpo and loose B-Stein's great two-way skills.

If McBride had not retired from internationall play, Fulham could have been one of the teams hardest hit by the call-out (3 players) along with New England (3 players).

It's a pretty decent roster. No real surprises or compliants. I do wish there was some player to be really excited about right now though.

Why does Frankie keep getting called up? He doesn't perform well for the US Team. He gets beat more times than not, loses the ball/gives it away. Doesn't have enough for me as a defender myself. Leave him out and bring in someone better, anyone.

Off Topic-St. Louis
St. Louis has a long and distinguished soccer history, but it's certainly faded from the point of pre-eminance it probably once occupied. I'm not sure how much, if any, soccer's faded, or how well they supported the soccer teams they've had. St. Louis the city itself isn't very big (350,000 or so), but the metro area is big enough to support a team. One issue is there's not a good place for them to play-the Rams play in a dome, the Cardinals stadium wouldn't be available, SLU's soccer stadium isn't big enough (6,500). You'd need an ownership group willing to build an SSS, realistically, for St. Louis to have a team.

Kansas City got a team because of Lamar Hunt.
END Off Topic-St. Louis

I like the roster. Some players without many caps, lots of mainstays, and some who may not be around in 2010, but will help now. So long as I see more of a speculative, future-type roster for Copa, I'll be happy the marginal value of bringing younger plays for a better shot at the Confed Cup.

>Convey was hurt and is rehabbing.

Not to mention that he's terrible.

Um, okay.

I think my biggest surprises are Hejduk, Ralston, Parkhurst, and Simek. Hejduk and Ralston because they may be a little long in the tooth for South Africa, and Parkhurst and Simek because of their limited impact in limited appearences. I think they all can do what's needed of them though for this competition though.

I was surprised not to see Cherundolo as my thought was most of the european players would play in the Gold Cup so that they could have the rest of the summer off. Does he have an injury that I'm not aware of, or just being kept for Copa America leadership?

I figure tho following will probably be on the Copa Roster now, but I'll be curious to see if anyone on the Gold Cup roster does double duty or who they bring in to fill out the roster: Reis, Cannon, Cherundolo, Conrad, Pearce, Beckerman, Rolfe, Cooper

Altidore and Bradley will have the U20 tournament.

Yes, Cherundolo is hurt. Something about his back.

And according to reports, there will be 8 to 12 players from the Gold cup roster who will be on the Copa America roster.

Like others, I was surprised by the inclusion of Hejduk, but beyond that there aren't many real surprises. Parkhurst is a bit of a surprise, but that probably would have been Conrad's spot.

But now we need a Copa roster. I'm thinking the double duty guys could be Keller, Onyewu, Feilhaber, Beasley and Dempsey (just a guess). That would mean the rest of the team could include: Cannon, Reis, Boswell, Dunivant, Conrad (if healthy), Wade Barrett, Chad Marshall, Beckerman, Carroll, Davis, Kljestan, Mathis (maybe?), Cooper, Rolfe (if healthy), Wolff, Noonan.

One question, if the MLSers aren't joining camp until June 3 and we only have 11 European based players on this team, who makes up the rest of the June 2 team to play China?

Not that many outside midfielders... I wonder if they're going to show a 4-3-3 to counter team's defensive mentality against us.

C'mon Goffer, stop drinking the Kool-Aid! What has Convey ever done besides put his head down and dribble out of bounds?

C'mon Goffer, stop drinking the Kool-Aid! What has Convey ever done besides put his head down and dribble out of bounds?

If McBride had not retired from internationall play, Fulham could have been one of the teams hardest hit by the call-out (3 players) along with New England (3 players).

Posted by: Mickey | May 24, 2007 01:34 PM

hit hardest by what? The EPL season is over.

Isn't Keller still hurt?

"hit hardest by what? The EPL season is over. Posted by: donkey97 | May 24, 2007 02:51 PM"

First - Point was that it would be ironic that a single EPL team would provide so many players to our national team efforts - perhaps yet another sign of the slow progress of Americans breaking into the EPL.

Second - a month and a half for the Gold Cup this summer (plus any time for the Copa - however unlikely) really limits the recovery period anticipated by so many players in Europe (i.e., Ronaldinho has bowed out of most - if not all - Brazilian national team events this summer due to exhaustion). Without a substantial recovery period in the summer, the exhaustion factor is ever more likely in a league like the EPL vis-a-vis a league like the MLS.

I said that Convey was hurt and rehabbing, and questioned you calling him "terrible" -- and suddenly I'm drinking the Kool-Aid??

Convey is one of a handful of Americans playing in England. He must have done something right. Is he the key to the U.S. winning the World Cup? Of course not. Is he a guaranteed starter in the next Cup? No. But he's not terrible. Geez...

"If St. Louis residents guarantee success, let's get Ty Keogh and Walter Bahr back."

Walter Bahr from St. Louis? Huh? Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Bahr.

But that just serves to remind us that Philadelphia is arguably second only to St. Louis in terms of having a long history of involvement with the sport in this country, and for that reason should be high on any list of MLS expansion targets.

I like this roster, especially the young talent at defense. I'm really excited to see how they play together. The two tournament backlines:

Gold Cup Copa
Simek Pearce
Gooch Spector
Bocanegra Boswell
Hedjuk Namoff

I think DeMerit gets invited to both, doesn't start, but comes on for significant time. Bornstein for Hedjuk, too, but he's not ready for Argentina, that's for certain. Whatchall think?

Grotus - Of your list, where do you see each of the respective players lining up in the back? Boswell outside? Gooch in the middle?

Roberto Brown got called up by Panama - that Colorado game is looking better

Mea Culpa RE: Bahr.

I must have been thinking about someone else from 1950 team. Maybe I meant Joe Gaetjens :-).

Spector kept West Ham up with his groin, that's got to earn him some time this summer.

"Spector kept West Ham up with his groin..."

This should have been posted by Ron Jeremy.

Fire fan in Buffalo -

Chad Marshall? Assuming for a minute he would remember his passport, he's having Esky-level concussion problems and hasn't played a minute for Columbus this season. Something tells me he's not going to take part in any national team tournaments this year.

The roster isn't really a surprise. I think Guzan is only there to learn, because he's quite clearly not the 3rd best keeper available (or even the 3rd best keeper in MLS). Parkhurst is really only going to be useful sweeping, so I figure we'll see the team change between three and four man backlines. It'll be interesting to see how the rotation between Ching, Twellman, and Johnson goes as far as being a target forward. Johnson can drop off the other two, but I feel like he's best leading the line. Simek is also a mild surprise, but not necessarily in a bad way. We should be expecting a Gold Cup trophy, even with the lower level of experience.

Why is the gold cup hosted by the US every year?

what about me? i'm going back to ghana

Here's my starting 11:
Keller

Demerit Boca Mastroeni Bornstein

Dempsey Feilhaber Donavan Mapp

Ching Johnson

Convey played well last season in helping Reading gain promotion to the EPL. He tried playing (in pain from a WC injury) at the beginning of the season, but finally had to shut it down and have surgery. There's no way Reading would allow him to risk further injury by playing this summer. Look for him to regain his starting spot next season.

Last time I checked, UK teams didn't pay £800,000 for terrible players.

"One question, if the MLSers aren't joining camp until June 3 and we only have 11 European based players on this team, who makes up the rest of the June 2 team to play China?"

http://www.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20070524&content_id=95028&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp

"Bradley will also utilize Chivas USA players to supplement the European-based players in a June 2 friendly with China in San Francisco because Chivas USA have no league match scheduled for that weekend."

Guzan and Bornstein will definitely be included, of course. Sacha Kljestan is likely too since he's been the U-23's captain as of late. Ante Razov and Jesse Marsch should be the others to make the China friendly roster.

Too bad Carlos Llamosa suffered a season-ending left knee injury...

Chest Rockwell-

Mea Culpa (or maybe I should say Mea 'Copa') on Chad Marshall. I completely forgot about his injury status.

On another note, listening to the podcast of the conference call with Bob Bradley, he said it is unlikely that either Tim Howard or Kasey Keller will go to Venezuela. So who would our #1 keeper be there, an MLS guy, maybe Quentin Westberg???

Can't say I'm disappointed that no United players are on the roster...best to have as many players as possible around when the schedule gets tougher. And if FIFA really wants to cut down on fixture congestion, then they should limit each confederation to one championship every four years like they do in Europe. There's no reason (other than money)CONCACAF needs to do this every two years.

"There's no reason (other than money) CONCACAF needs to do this every two years."

Jack Warner owns a travel agency in T&T, which was the subject of another Warner scandal involving WC06 tickets and travel. Maybe Jack's agency is the official travel agency of CONCACAF or maybe he consolidated tickets and is scalping the national federations. This is pure speculation on my part, but it's Jack's fault.

Disclaimer: I don't know Jack.

I'm surprised so many people think Hedjuk is the surprise and not Ralston...

I was hoping that we'd never see him in a Nats uniform again. oh well

Convey and Marcus H. are out due to injury and rehab. So you can forget about them until Sweden. What about Heath Pearce? I have a feeling Bradley isn't impressed. He wouldn't even elude to Pearce making the Copa squad! Don't get me wrong I like Jonothan Bornstein but sometimes I think he pushes up to far and can neglect his defensive responsibilities. I am tired of Brian Ching! He is not Brian McBride! Put in someone else. Oh wait I guess there really isn't any other options? Twellman is in good form but is he really the guy in 2010? No. I wish Landon the best, but he can be very inconsistent. Eddie Johnson?????????Right now I think the teams biggest weakness is at foward. I can't wait for Jozy to mature. He is our only hope at a consistent world class striker. I hope he can handle it.

"I must have been thinking about someone else from 1950 team. Maybe I meant Joe Gaetjens :-)."

Actually, Gaetjens was a Haitian-born New Yorker, but there was no shortage of people from St. Louis on the squad, so you could have been thinking about Borghi, Wallace, etc., etc. More info can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England_v_United_States_%281950%29.

RE: John Berrodin

Actually, I think Cooper is a good long-term answer to McBride. Kinda surprised not to see him on the roster.

I Think Bradley is saving Cooper for Copa. I do agree that he would be the most suitable replacement for McBride. Brian Ching is not even in good form right now! To me it's a wasted spot. It would be nice to see Cooper play both the Gold Cup and Copa but I'm pretty sure Dallas would have a problem with that due to Ruiz's lack of form and the possible trade that is in the works. Jozy will be busy at the under 20 WC, which is probably the best place for him to be for now.