Bob Bradley names the 22 man US roster for Copa America today. As expected Landon Donovan has not been named to the squad and will return to the LA Galaxy. Herculez Gomez who has had an excellent season thus far for Colorado is one of three players who have never been capped before to be named to the US Squad. the others are Marvell Wynne and Drew Moor.
Ben Olsen recieved his first call up to the National Team since last year's World Cup and Heath Pearce returns to the National Team despite rumors of a rift with Coach Bradley. Danny Califf returns to the National Team as well which proves that Bradley unlike his predecssor Bruce Arena will not stop calling up players to the national team simply because they leave MLS to play in a second tier European league. Arena allowed too much talent to be dropped from the player pool simply because they had fallen off his radar. Also Lee Nguyen a promising young central midfielder gets a call up as does Charlie Davies another young attacking player.
Roster:
Goalkeepers (2) – Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Kasey Keller (Borussia Moenchengladbach) Defenders (8) – Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Bobby Boswell (D.C. United), Dan Califf (Aalborg BK), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Drew Moor (FC Dallas), Heath Pearce (FC Nordsjælland), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC) Midfielders (8) – Kyle Beckerman (Colorado Rapids), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Benny Feilhaber (Hamburger SV), Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Justin Mapp (Chicago Fire), Lee Nguyen (PSV Eindhoven), Ben Olsen (D.C.United) Forwards (4) – Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF), Herculez Gomez (Colorado Rapids), Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Wizards), Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution)
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The full squad:
U.S. Men's National Team 2007 Copa America Roster
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Birthdate Caps/G Hometown Club
17 Beckerman, Kyle M 5'10" 165 04/23/82 1/0 Crofton, Md. Colorado Rapids (MLS)
13 Bornstein, Jonathan D 5'9" 145 11/07/84 7/1 Los Alamitos, Calif. Chivas USA (MLS)
4 Boswell, Bobby D 6'2" 185 03/15/83 2/0 Tampa, Fl. D.C. United (MLS)
7 Califf, Danny D 6'1" 175 03/17/80 14/1 Orange, Calif. Aalborg BK (Denmark)
19 Clark, Ricardo M 5'10" 150 05/10/83 6/0 Jonesboro, Ga. Houston Dynamo (MLS)
12 Conrad, Jimmy D 6'2" 185 02/12/77 21/0 Temple City, Calif. Kansas City Wizards (MLS)
10 Davies, Charlie F 5'10" 160 06/25/86 1/0 Manchester, N.H. Hammarby IF (Sweden)
3 DeMerit, Jay D 6'0" 185 12/04/79 3/0 Green Bay, Wis. Watford FC (England)
5 Feilhaber, Benny M 5'9" 150 01/19/85 7/1 Irvine, Calif. Hamburger SV (Germany)
11 Gaven, Eddie M 6'0" 165 10/25/86 3/0 Hamilton, N.J. Colombus Crew (MLS)
8 Gomez, Herculez F 5'10" 165 04/06/82 0/0 Las Vegas, Nev. Colorado Rapids (MLS)
23 Guzan, Brad GK 6'4" 210 09/09/84 1/0 Homer Glen, Ill. Chivas USA (MLS)
9 Johnson, Eddie F 6'0" 180 03/31/84 26/10 Palm Coast, Fla. Kansas City Wizards (MLS)
18 Keller, Kasey GK 6'2" 190 11/29/69 100/0 Lacey, Wash. Bor. M'gladbach (Germany)
16 Kljestan, Sacha M 6'1" 150 09/09/85 1/0 Huntington Beach, Calif. Chivas USA (MLS)
21 Mapp, Justin M 5'10" 140 10/18/84 5/0 Brandon, Miss. Chicago Fire (MLS)
15 Moor, Drew D 6'0" 170 01/15/84 0/0 Dallas, Texas FC Dallas (MLS)
25 Nguyen, Lee M 5'8" 149 10/07/86 1/0 Richardson, Texas PSV Eindhoven (Holland)
14 Olsen, Ben M 5'8" 140 05/03/77 34/6 Middletown, Pa. D.C. United (MLS)
6 Pearce, Heath D 5'10" 175 08/13/84 6/0 Modesto, Calif. FC Nordsjælland (Denmark)
20 Twellman, Taylor F 5'11" 170 02/29/80 24/6 St. Louis, Mo. New England Revolution (MLS)
2 Wynne, Marvell D 5'9" 171 05/08/86 0/0 Poway, Calif. Toronto FC (MLS)
This squad is sure fire bet for last place in the Copa.
I did not imagine this roster would actually be this bad. What a pathetic, pathetic roster.
Beckerman and Gomez are great first time call ups.
Where the hell are the best players? donovan, beasley, howard, gooch, bradley??? wtf? lol
This promises to be a real "baptism by fire" for most of these young, untested players.
If Boswell, Clark, Gomez, and Wynne are effective, I don't think anyone will doubt MLS' quality again.
If the team is a flop, then Coach Bradley at least knows what he's got to work with for qualifying next year.
shouldn't he have used this roster in the gold cup, seeing as it's a much weaker and less important tourney then the copa america?
Bob Bradley and US soccer made it clear that the Gold Cup was a priority this summer and I agree. As I wrote a couple weeks ago, the US must establish themselves as the dominating country in CONCACAF, arguably the weakest confederation in the world, before they ever become a serious contender to make a long run in a World Cup. Other reasons why I believe that it is more important to send a stronger team to the Gold Cup:
1. The winner of the Gold Cup and Copa America both get a bid to the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa, which will be huge in the preparation for 2010. Unlike Germany, no one is familiar with playing in South Africa. Being able to go down there a yeart before the World Cup and get a feel for the cities, climate, and stadiums will give the Confederations Cup qualifiers a big edge. Not only that, but qualification for the Confederations Cup guarentees at least three matches against premier national teams (the 2005 tournement included Germany, Brazil, Argentina, and others). All that being said, the US has a much better chance at winning the Gold Cup than winning Copa America. Even a full-strength American team would not win Copa America.
2. American players based overseas like Bocanegra, Onyewu, Beasley, Dempsey, etc. need to get some time off or, in Beasley's case, find a home for next season. Rather than playing in Copa America, it is more important that these guys are well-rested and ready to push for regular playing time with their clubs.
3. We've had a chance to see some of the European based players and veteran National Team players against top-notch competition. However, some of these young, MLS-based players (ie Bornstein, Clark, Mapp, Boswell, Beckerman) and players based in smaller European countries (ie Pearce, Davies, and Califf) have not had the opportunity to show whether or not they can raise their game to another level. This will give them the opportunity to show what they can do against some of the top players and teams in the world and will help Bob Bradley get a better idea of which players can help the US move closer to becoming a marquee footballing nation.
All that being said, this is not a very strong team and I don't expect them to get out of the group stage. If the World Cup started tomorrow, only a handful would be on the roster and maybe one or two in the starting 11. I'm almost glad I don't get Telefutrua or GOLtv. This tournement could be pretty ugly. By the way, in case you haven't seen Argetina's roster for the tournement, they have everyone: Messi, Crespo, Cambiasso, Aimar, even Riquelme. I was hoping at least one or two of these guys would beg out for a little break. I guess they really want to win this thing.
ok so why is feilhaber, demerit and ngyen on the roster, if ur theory of resting the european based players is true??
First, it was to my understanding that it was ultimately the players' decision on whether or not they played in Copa America. I'm sure Bob Bradley would love to have Donovan, Beasley, Onyweu, Bocanegra, and Dempsey for this tournement. Since these guys place with the National Team is pretty secure, they may have elected not rest up for their upcoming season in Europe rather than play a second tournement this summer.
As for Lee Nguyen, he was not on the Gold Cup roster and was injured for most of the season with PSV. He hasn't played that much in the last 6 months. In order to be ready for the upcoming season with PSV, he needs to play much more than he needs to rest.
Jay DeMerit is the co-captain for his club Watford. Unlike Clint Dempsey, Demracus Beasley, and Oguchi Onyewu, his place in the starting lineup for his club his pretty secure. If he is a little tired and sluggish in pre-season training for Watford, it will not affect his stauts in the team the same way it may affect one of these guys who is not established. Plus unlike Dempsey, Beasley, and Onyewu, DeMerit has really only played one game (plus 10 mins. off the bench against Guatemala) in the Gold Cup thus far. Playing in the Copa America should not wear him down too much.
Finally, Benny. Benny's case is a little different. He needs to be ready to battle for playing time come August whether it be with HSV or someone else. However, unlike Dempsey, Donovan, and Onyewu, Benny has not really established his spot on the National Team quite yet. He was not apart of the World Cup last summer and has only 9 caps with National Team. He probably feels that, at this stage of his career, he must take every opportunity that he gets to earn his place with the National Team and I really like seeing that out of a young player.
Once again, keep in mind that it may not have all been up to Bob Bradley. I'd have to assume that he extended the invitation to guys like Donovan, Beasley, Bocanegra, and Dempsey and they declined. I can't blame them. With the World Cup last summer and this summer's Gold Cup, some of them have played for almost two years straight without extended rest. I recall a pre-Gold Cup press conference in which Bradley stated that he was hoping to have anywhere from 8-12 players from the Gold Cup to be on the Copa America roster as well. I count 8. Based on that, I have to believe Bradley was hoping for a few more and didn't get them.
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