U.S. Squad named for Netherlands game

The 20-player roster for the March 3 game:

goalkeepers – Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Tim Howard (Everton)

defenders – Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jay DeMerit (Watford), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Frank Simek (Sheffield Wednesday), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)

midfielders – DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers), Alejandro Bedoya (Orebro), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mnchengladbach), Landon Donovan (Everton), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Stuart Holden (Bolton Wanderers), Jos Torres (Pachuca)

forwards – Jozy Altidore (Hull City), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Eddie Johnson (Aris Thessaloniki)

Considering this is a FIFA-designated international game date and the final contest before U.S. Coach Bob Bradley names his 23-player World Cup squad this is a pretty good indication of who is likely to go to South Africa.

And don’t forget, the likes of Ricardo Clark, Charlie Davis, Clint Dempsey, Benny Feilhaber and Oguchi Onyewu are all out injured.

Have such players as Robbie Rogers, Sacha Kljestan and Brian Ching seen their chance of making the squad evaporate?

Notable: Johnson only played 75 minutes in two appearances as sub for the USMNT last year and Bedoya, who earned his first U.S. MNT cap against Honduras in January, must have impressed Bradley at the HDC camp. Simek hasn’t made a national team appearance since 2007.

Quotable:

“This is the final match before we bring the team together for the World Cup, so to have a match against one of the top teams in the world like the Netherlands is a big benefit and a good challenge for our group,” Bradley said. “They are expecting a large crowd to turn out for the game, and we are looking forward to an exciting atmosphere in Amsterdam.”

The U.S. is 0-3 against the Netherlands.

Facebook Twitter Plusone Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email
This entry was posted in World Cup by Nick Green. Bookmark the permalink.

About Nick Green

South Bay-based Los Angeles News Group soccer columnist and blogger Nick Green writes at the 100 Percent Soccer blog at www.insidesocal.com/soccer and craft beer at the Beer Goggles blog at www.insidesocal.com/beer. Cheers!