U.S. World Cup Qualifying Roster Announced - No Place for Buddle or Cooper (Again)
U.S. Coach Bob Bradley has just announced a 20-man roster for the pair of upcoming World Cup Qualifying games against Cuba Sept. 6 in Havana and Trinidad & Tobago on Sept. 10 in Chicago.
There are just two changes and two additions to the squad Bradley selected for the recent qualifier in Guatemala.
Former Galaxy defender Danny Califf replaces Watford's Jay DeMerit in the back, while Colorado's Pablo Mastroeni is out and Houston's Ricardo Clark comes in at midfield.
In addition, Marvell Wynne of Toronto FC and Michael Orozco, who plays in Mexico and is the only uncapped player on the roster, come into the senior squad.
The Galaxy's Landon Donovan and Eddie Lewis retain their places, as does Sacha Kljestan of Chivas USA.
"These next two games are very important to help us position ourselves to advance to the final stage," Bradley said. "With the win against Guatemala, we have put ourselves in a good situation at the start of the semifinal round. I was very pleased with the way our team stuck together in a difficult environment. We need to have that same type of effort in the matches against Cuba and Trinidad & Tobago."
But Bradley has once again ignored Dallas striker Kenny Cooper and the Galaxy's Edson Buddle who have 25 goals between them and sit in the No. 2 and No. 3 positions respectively in the MLS scoring race.
Here's the full squad, with World Cup qualifying caps and goals (or in the case of goalkeepers shutouts) listed in parentheses:
Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa: 2/2 SO), Tim Howard (Everton FC: 4/3 SO).Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes: 14/2), Danny Califf (FC Midtjylland: 2/0), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96: 16/0), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew: 12/1), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege: 9/0), Michael Orozco (San Luis: 0/0), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock: 3/0), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC: 0/0).
Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers: 17/4), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen: 3/1), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo: 1/0), Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers: 2/0), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA: 1/0), Eddie Lewis (Los Angeles Galaxy: 20/3).
Forwards: Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo: 8/4), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy: 22/8), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC: 9/2), Eddie Johnson (Cardiff City: 8/8)
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Sportswriter Nick Green has written the 100 Percent Soccer column since 2005 for the Daily News, Daily Breeze and other Los Angeles area newspapers. The blog of the same name began in 2007. A native of England, he began writing about soccer in the mid-1980s and in 2000 permanently exchanged a seat in the stands for one in the press box. He lives six miles from Carson's Home Depot Center, home of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Chivas USA and the training headquarters for U.S. Soccer and is married to a long-suffering soccer widow. Join Nick on FaceBook and follow him on Twitter.
What does this mean in terms of Landon and Eddie's availability for Galaxy games? Are they only missing the 9/6 game against RSL or will there be more training and they have to miss more than that?
Nick replies: Good question. They'll be gone Aug. 31 through Sept. 10 so it does indeed look like they'll just miss the RSL game (thankfully).
Another blunder of blunders by the horrible management of MLS/AEG. How can we even begin to take this league seriously when the players are not on FIFA breaks like the rest of the world? They're fookin' idiots. Nice league. I wonder if the AEG marketeers disclose that these players won't be playing when they spam out their junk emails?
As far as the us team goes. what's wrong with Jay Demerrit and Jonathan Spector? Who is Goochie blowing to keep getting in the line-up? I also seem to be blind because I don't see Altidore.
Cristobal, "who is Goochie blowing"?? I was thinking the same thing of Eddie Johnson! EJ blows big time, even more than the Coach's son.
Since Cooper has not been selected for qualifiers on the road, let's see what happens when the U.S. has qualifiers at home before criticizing Bradley too much.
Also, count me among those who are skeptical of Buddle's success to date. Yes, he has 12 goals in 18 games but six of those came in two games. That means he has six goals in the other 16 games. Buddle hasn't had the career track record that other forwards have had. Would he have had his success w/o Beckham and Donovan? I see Buddle more as a complimentary player, offensively, than as an offensive force to build around.
Finally, let's remind ourselves that this is still fairly early in the qualifying process. A lot of things can (and probably will) happen between now and the regional finals.