Bradley names MNT's initial training camp roster
Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - Interim United States Men's National Team head coach Bob Bradley announced, Tuesday, the 29 players that will join him Jan. 4 in Carson, Calif. for the team's first training camp in preparation for the 2008 World Cup.
The 29-man roster is made up of mostly domestic players and boasts 28 players from Major League Soccer. Twenty-two players on the initial roster have five caps or less, while ten will be in search of their first-ever appearance with the senior team. FC Nordsjaelland defender Heath Pearce is the only European- based player on the roster and is available because the Danish Super League is shut down for the winter break.
"This is a great opportunity to get a first-hand look at a wide variety of domestic-based players as we begin a new World Cup cycle," Bradley said. "Along with some experienced players, we have quite a few players who will be getting their first exposure to the national team. Obviously, the goal for developing our team is to be ready for World Cup qualifying in 2008, and this is where we start. At the same time, we want to be prepared to compete against Denmark, and many of these players have recently had a long break from soccer. With only a short period of time to prepare, we will have to work very hard to get our players both physically and mentally ready to play."
In addition to World Cup 2008, the group will be preparing for the USA’s first two matches of 2007 - a friendly against Denmark on Jan. 20 in Carson followed by a friendly against Mexico in Arizona on February 7.
Along with a series of friendlies this winter and spring, the MNT will compete in two major championships this summer. The team will first try to defend its title against 11 other teams at the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup, scheduled from June 6-24 in several cities across the Unites States. Just a few days later, the team will participate in the 2007 Copa America, the regional championship of South America. The 12-team tournament will run from June 26 to July 15 in nine cities across Venezuela. For the United States, the appearance will mark their third entrance into CONMEBOL’s signature event.
Bradley, MLS's reigning coach of the year as well as the league's all-time winningest head coach, has a roster of decorated MLS athletes. Six members of the 2006 MLS Best XI have been invited, including Bobby Boswell (MLS defender of the year), Troy Perkins (MLS goalkeeper of the year), and Jonathan Bornstein (MLS rookie of the year).
Three of the top 10 scorers in MLS will also be in Carson: Landon Donovan (12), Kenny Cooper (11) and Taylor Twellman (11).
The 24-year-old Donovan, a two-time World Cup veteran, is the leading cap- winner on the roster, having made 84 international appearances for the senior team. He is the USA’s all-time leader in assists (22), and sits in third-place on the all-time goal scoring list with 25.
The complete roster is as follows:
GOALKEEPERS(4) - Joe Cannon (Los Angeles Galaxy), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Troy Perkins (D.C. United), Matt Reis (New England Revolution)
DEFENDERS(9) - Chris Albright (Los Angeles Galaxy), Bobby Boswell (D.C. United), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Bryan Namoff (D.C. United), Michael Parkhurst (New England Revolution), Heath Pearce (FC Nordsjaelland), Dasan Robinson (Chicago Fire) Eddie Robinson (Houston Dynamo)
MIDFIELDERS(10) - Kyle Beckerman (Colorado Rapids), Brian Carroll (D.C. United), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Clint Dempsey (New England Revolution), Joshua Gros (D.C. United), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Justin Mapp (Chicago Fire), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids), Brian Mullan (Houston Dynamo), Pat Noonan (New England Revolution)
FORWARDS(6) - Kenny Cooper (FC Dallas), Alecko Eskandarian (D.C. United), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Nate Jaqua (Los Angeles Galaxy), Chris Rolfe (Chicago Fire), Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution)
Comments
Not the most exciting list of names, but I guess that's b/c it's all MLS. But I'm surprised there's no inclusion of young talent even from the MLS... no Adu, no Altidore, no Marvell Wynne.
It's good to see Eskandarian on the roster though.
Posted by: kicks22 | December 21, 2006 12:28 PM
That's because MLS and college players are all that is available to Bradley at this point. Many of the younger guys, including Adu and Altidore, are unavailable right now as they are training with the U-20 national team in preparation for the World Youth Championship qualifying campaign. Add to that the fact that all the European-based players (other than Heath Pierce) are unavailable due to club commitments right now.
So it's no surprise to see these selections, because he doensn't have much choice with the timing. The only surprise I might really comment on would be the absence of Eddie Johnson. He should be available for this camp as far as I know. Granted, he hasn't been in the best form lately, but he was about the only striker that showed any hint of being dangerous in Germany, not to mention, there is a notable lack of pace in the selected forwards (a gap Johnson could fill). Maybe a little surprised not to see Marvell Wynne in there. He's young and unrefined at this point, but I would like to see him start to get some experience and with the limited pool we have at the moment, this would be a good time.
Posted by: Heath Young | December 21, 2006 01:08 PM
Ah... forgot about the U-20 team. Yeah, I hope there's a reasonable explanation for no Eddie Johnson. It would be stupid to give up on him completely this soon. There's also no Brian Ching.
Posted by: kicks22 | December 21, 2006 02:49 PM
just typo clarrification in the summary
ther;s no world cup in 2008
just FYI
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