The final roster must be submitted on June 2, when this 30-man squad will be cut down to 23. The USA will play three friendlies to gear up for the tournament, and final cuts will be made after the second match. The exhibition schedule is as follows:
May 27 vs. Azerbaijan (in San Francisco)
June 1 vs. Turkey (in New York City)
June 7 vs. Nigeria (in Jacksonville, FL)
After that it’s off to Brazil:
June 16 vs. Ghana
June 22 vs. Portugal
June 26 vs. Germany
There (as always) are some notable snubs: Eddie Johnson was left off after being a big part of the club in last year’s qualifiers. His poor form so far this season for DC (zero goals on eight starts) definitely cost him. He had five goals in 16 caps for USA last year. There are also questions as to how effective he would be as a lone striker (the role in which Klinsmann would have most likely played him) being that he is not the most creative of forwards. Brek Shea hasn’t been able to earn any consistent playing time at Stoke and was left out. Sacha Kljestan and Herculez Gomez were never able to produce consistently in their time with the national team and were not selected in favor of younger faces like Johannsson and Green. Danny Williams and Steve Cherundolo were left off due to injury. Carlos Bocanegra didn’t make an impression during his mulligan last year, and his fall from grace seems complete.
There are more players on the roster currently playing for MLS clubs that at any time I can ever remember in the past. That could be good and/or bad. It’s certainly good for the MLS to have Bradley, Dempsey, and Donovan (most likely the three best players on the team) playing at home. It doesn’t say much for the MLS when your best players are employed by the likes of Chievo and Fulham. The question is whether or not the quality of play in the MLS is good enough to properly prepare these players for Messi, Ronaldo, Iniesta, etc.
Anyway, without further Adu (I couldn’t resist) here’s the 30:
GOALKEEPERS: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Nick Rimando (Salt Lake)
DEFENDERS: DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla), Matt Besler (KC), John Brooks (Hertha), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Timmy Chandler (Nurnberg), Brad Evans (Seattle), Omar Gonzalez (LA), Clarence Goodson (SJ), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Monchengladbach), Michael Parkhurst (Columbus), Deandre Yedlin (Seattle)
MIDFIELDERS: Kyle Beckerman (Salt Lake), Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes), Michael Bradley (Toronto), Joe Corona (Tijuana), Brad Davis (Houston), Mix Diskerud (Rosenborg), Maurice Edu (Philadelphia), Julian Green (Bayern Munchen II), Jermaine Jones (Besiktas), Graham Zusi (KC)
FORWARDS:
Jozy Altidore (Sunderland), Terrence Boyd (Rapid Vienna), Clint Dempsey (Seattle), Landon Donovan (LA), Aron Johannsson (AZ Alkmaar), Chris Wondolowski (SJ)
LINEUP PREDICTIONS:
Attempting to predict a soccer clubs lineup is almost impossible. So many factors go into choosing a starting eleven that it’s all just guess work from a supporters perspective, especially with a coach like Klinsmann, who shuffles his lineup around with Sir Alex
Ferguson-like unpredictability. Nonetheless, let’s give it a try:
KEEPER: Tim Howard is one of the best goalkeepers in the world and will have to come up big in the tournament, as the defense in front of him looks less than stellar.
LEFT BACK: When Klinsmann took over it appeared Fabian Johnson was his man here. An injury forced Klinsmann to think outside the box and play DaMarcus Beasley (normally a winger) at fullback. Beasley was chosen for most of the qualifiers but Johnson is back healthy. The competition is probably between these two.
RIGHT BACK: Steve Cherundolo has had persistent injury issues over the last year and will unfortunately miss the World Cup. Not good news, as he is by far our best fullback. Geoff Cameron should be the pick here, but has been very inconsistent in his games with the national team. Look for Brad Evans and a resurgent Timmy Chandler to push him for playing time.
CENTER BACKS: Matt Besler and Omar Gonzalez should be the starters as they were the main defense tandem in qualifiers. Both of these guys are very promising young players, but they’ll have to grow up fast as they look to be overmatched when pitted against top-tier offensive clubs.
CENTRAL MIDFIELDERS: Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones will play a defensive role in the middle, and look to point-guard the attack. Bradley is the best all-around player on the squad and Jones brings lots of experience. This is one position that shouldn’t be a problem.
WING MIDFIELDERS: Assuming Jurgen plays a 4-2-3-1 formation, expect to see Graham Zusi, who played wonderfully in the qualifying tournament, on one side with Clint Dempsey or Landon Donovan on the other. Dempsey and Donovan are the two most talented players on the team and no one else is even close. Both are natural forwards but in Klinsmann’s system they have been shuffled around. Conventional thinking would say to play the more creative Donovan on the wing with the ruthless Dempsey causing havoc down the middle, but Klinsmann seems to prefer Donovan in a more traditional forward role (if he prefers him at all.) My guess is Zusi and Dempsey here. Either way, USA looks pretty strong at the wide positions.
CENTRAL ATTACKING MIDFIELDER: This again should belong to either Donovan or Dempsey, it seems like the coach would prefer Donovan here. However, Donovan and Klinsmann doesn’t appear to be the greatest marriage and Jurgen might prefer Donovan on the bench and an unexpected starter like Diskerud or Boyd could get a shot as the playmaker.
STRIKER: Jozy Altidore has played his best football over the past year and will hopefully have a break-out performance at the World Cup and score lots of goals. Chris Wondolowski should see some time here as well.
Article By: Anthony Schiano
