U.S. Roster for Mexico WCQ Announced; Chivas USA's Kljestan Dropped
Here's the 20-player squad with World Cup qualifying caps and goals in parenthesis:
Goalkeepers - Brad Guzan (Aston Villa: 5/3 SO), Tim Howard (Everton FC: 11/7 SO)
Defenders - Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes: 21/3), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA, 2/0), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover: 18/0), Jay DeMerit (Watford: 2/0), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew: 0/0), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan: 16/1), Jonathan Spector (West Ham: 2/0)
Midfielders - Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach: 10/4), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo: 5/0), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC: 17/4), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus: 1/0), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo: 0/0), José Francisco Torres (Pachuca: 5/0)
Forwards - Jozy Altidore (Villarreal: 8/5), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids: 5/0), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo: 15/6), Charlie Davies (FC Sochaux: 2/1), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy: 30/11)
Notable absentees from the Confederations Cup squad include the likes of DaMarcus Beasley and Sacha Kljestan (paying for a lack of form, one would think). Also absent: Heath Pearce, Danny Califf, Marvell Wynne and Freddy Adu.
Stuart Holden and Riverside's Chad Marshall are welcome additions after recent good Gold Cup showings.
Nine players in the squad appeared in the 2-0 win over Mexico Feb. 11, including two-goal man Michael Bradley.
"We are excited about the challenge and the opportunity," said U.S. head coach Bob Bradley (and if I hear him say a variation on that one more time I'm going to scream). "Our team continually tries to raise the bar, and certainly the chance to win for the first time in Mexico is a welcome opportunity."
The game kicks off at 1 p.m. on Telemundo and English language cable channel mun2 (which has free previews that day on Dish and DirecTV).
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About 100 Percent Soccer
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.
I thought the match was at 1 PM? Can you please clarify... Thanks.
Nick replies: Correction made. You are right. I was given wrong information.