Now we know which players will be entrusted as the United States national team launches that final U.S. push toward Brazil 2014.
U.S. manager Jurgen Klinsmann named a 24-man roster for Wednesday’s contest in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. There the United States begins a 10-game schedule in CONCACAF qualifying’s final round. The United States must finish at least third in the six-team group for passages into Brazil 2014 without going through a final playoff.
Check back later for additional roster analysis, and for what the call-ups mean to some individuals.
(MORE: Four notable roster omissions on Monday’s announcement)
(MORE: Jurgen Klinsmann addresses Benny Feilhaber’s status)
For now, the early reactions:
- The winners from this January’s national team camp, one that always features mostly MLS men: Omar Gonzalez, Brad Davis, Matt Besler and Brad Evans. None were in the mix last year during semifinal round qualifying, so it’s fair to say that three weeks under Klinsmann in Southern California weighed heavily on the manager’s selections.
- Others from the camp on today’s roster, like Graham Zusi and Eddie Johnson, were also in the January camp. But Zusi made his move in 2012; he was always likely to be on this roster.
- Jose Torres, now with Tigres in Mexico, is on the roster, something of a surprise considering last year’s up-and-down year and comments from Jurgen Klinsmann that come as close as he ever gets to being truly critical.
- Torres, Kljestan or Evans are probably on the roster where Kyle Beckerman would have been. That’s one of the surprises, as Beckerman had seemed to gain Klinsmann’s trust previously.
- No surprises among the four strikers named, Johnson, Jozy Altidore, Clint Dempsey and Herculez Gomez. Chris Wondolowski and Juan Agudelo had chances to move up in the order but needed to do more in last week’s friendly. Agudelo, 20, has plenty of time.
- Sacha Kljestan kept his spot, having gained some ground over the second half of 2012. Kljestan, 27, is in the sweet spot of his career, old enough to know, still young enough to do. A fan favorite, this is going to please a bunch of U.S. Soccer supporters.
The entire roster looks like this:
GOALKEEPERS (3) : Brad Guzan (Aston Villa - 5/3 SO), Tim Howard (Everton – 22/9 SO), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire – 0/0)
DEFENDERS (9) : Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City – 0/0), Carlos Bocanegra (Racing Santander – 31/5), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City – 5/0), Edgar Castillo (Club Tijuana – 0/0), Timmy Chandler (Nuremberg – 0/0), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders – 0/0), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy – 0/0), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim – 3/0), Michael Parkhurst (Augsburg – 3/0)
MIDFIELDERS (8) : Michael Bradley (Roma – 19/5), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo - 0/0), Maurice Edu (Bursaspor – 9/0), Jermaine Jones (Schalke 04 – 5/0), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht – 12/0), Jose Torres (Tigres – 9/0), Danny Williams (Hoffenheim – 4/0), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City – 3/0)
FORWARDS (4 ): Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar – 17/6), Clint Dempsey (Tottenham Hotspur – 26/10), Herculez Gomez (Santos – 6/2), Eddie Johnson (Seattle Sounders – 11/10)