January USMNT HDC Camp Roster Includes Chivas USA's Thornton, Braun, Former Galaxy Goalkeeper Hartman
Bob Bradley casts his net wide to bring in 30 players for this one with an interesting collection of names announced this morning to say the least.
Former Galaxy reserve Brandon McDonald?
Here's the squad:
goalkeepers - Kevin Hartman (Kansas City), Troy Perkins (Valerenga), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake), Zach Thornton (Chivas USA)
defenders - Kevin Alston (New England Revolution), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles Galaxy), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)
midfielders - Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Alejandro Bedoya (Örebro), Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Jeff Larentowicz (New England Revolution), Dax McCarty (FC Dallas), Chris Pontius (D.C. United), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)
forwards - Justin Braun (Chivas USA), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Jeff Cunningham (FC Dallas), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Brandon McDonald (San Jose Earthquakes), Marcus Tracy (Aalborg)
Trivia time: Who is the leading cap winner on this squad? (Answer below).
Camp opens Jan. 4 and culminates with the Jan. 23 game at Home Depot Center against Honduras (tickets on sale now, BTW).
Quotable:
"This is the start of six months of preparations for the World Cup, and it is important that we get started off heading in the right direction," said U.S. coach Bob Bradley, who led the U.S. to first place in CONCACAF qualifying. "We have had the chance to work with many of these players through their time with the national team, while others performed well for their clubs throughout last season and have earned this opportunity. We are continuing to evaluate the player pool as we move towards finalizing our roster for this summer."
Just to underline the nature of this squad, exactly half the roster - 15 players - didn't earn a cap this year.
And the leading cap-winner - Benny Feilhaber (30).
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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.
Seems like someone made a mistake somewhere. Has Brandon McDonald ever played forward? He was a defensive Mid for the Galaxy last year and played central defender for the Earthquakes in the few games I watched him play this year.
Apparently he knew how to find the net in college anyway. This is from the Earthquakes' Web site: "The Glendale, Ariz. native played four years at the University of San Francisco with the Dons, finishing his career with 10 goals and seven assists. In his best season with the Dons as a sophomore, he scored three goals and added two assists, and as a freshman McDonald finished second on the team in scoring with five goals."
We can't reward mediocrity. Justain Braun and Brandon McDonald are not worthy to even put on a national team bibs. How low can we afford to go?
Why isn't Omar in the title? :)