Houston’s Brian Ching describes the upcoming U.S. camp as one “big tryout.” (AP Photo).
The pre-World Cup camp doesn’t start until next week, but you can bet players are already looking over their shoulders since the 30-player preliminary roster must be whittled down to 23.
Here’s an early Associated Press break-down of the decisions facing U.S. Coach Bob Bradley:
NEW YORK (AP) – Now that Charlie Davies won’t be playing for the U.S. soccer team in South Africa, coach Bob Bradley must figure out his starting forwards.
Jozy Altidore seems set despite an inconsistent season at Hull that ended with a suspension for a head butt April 24. There are numerous possibilities to join him, including Houston’s Brian Ching, who is on the verge of returning from a hamstring injury that’s sidelined him since April 1, and Major League Soccer scoring leader Edson Buddle.
Clint Dempsey could be pushed up from midfield to forward, a move Fulham manager Roy Hodgson has made at times. Landon Donovan also could be shifted up front.
Bradley has three exhibition games to work it out, against the Czech Republic on May 25, Turkey four days later and Australia on June 5. He also has to cut seven players from his 30-man roster to get down to the FIFA limit by June 1.
“Last time around, you knew you were on the team, so you were just concentrating on jelling and getting to know the guys,” said Ching, who made the preliminary cut Thursday, “This time around, it’s kind of going to be a big tryout.”
The group that will practice next week at Princeton, N.J., has nine defenders, 12 midfielders and six forwards. Most teams trim to 8-8-4, although the versatility of Dempsey, Donovan and midfielder Maurice Edu, who played on the back line during the 2008 Olympics, means a slight variation is possible. Heath Pearce, a left back for the national team, has played in the midfield and on the right for FC Dallas.
Most of the starters appear certain, barring fitness and form, with Tim Howard in goal, and Oguchi Onyewu, Jay DeMerit, Jonathan Spector and Carlos Bocanegra returning from the defense that played at last year’s Confederations Cup.
But Onyewu hasn’t played in a match since tearing his left patellar tendon during the final World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica on Oct. 14; Bocanegra missed Rennes’ match last weekend with stomach pain; and DeMerit last played April 17, dropped from Watford’s final three games because of an abdominal injury.
Spector, while right-footed, was shifted to left back by West Ham because of Herita Ilunga’s calf injury, and he struggled. Spector headed a corner kick into his own net for an own-goal against Wigan on April 24, then was dispossessed on the edge of his own penalty area at Fulham a week later, leading to a Stefano Okaka goal.
Dempsey scored his seventh Premier League goal of the season, ninth overall, in that one. When he returned March 11 from a layoff of nearly two months caused by a right knee injury, he helped spark the Cottagers on a run to the first European final in their 131-year history, against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night in the Europa League. His chip capped a comeback against two-time European champion Juventus.
Dempsey is only part of what appears to be a strong U.S. midfield.
Michael Bradley, the coach’s son, had an excellent season for Borussia Moenchengladbach; Edu became a regular starter by the final four games of the season for Glasgow Rangers; and Ricardo Clark, following eight straight games on the bench, started Eintracht Frankfurt’s final three matches.
Donovan has looked sharp for the Los Angeles Galaxy, scoring his first goal of the season and getting three assists last weekend in 4-0 demolition of Seattle that was so one-sided the Sounders offered season-ticket holders a refund.
There’s also Stuart Holden, who returned from a broken leg to play Sunday in Bolton’s season finale; 23-year-old Alejando Bedoya, who has become a regular at Sweden’s Orebro; Jose Torres, who helped Pachuca win the CONCACAF Champions League; and Benny Feilhaber, who returned to Denmark’s AGF Aarhus on March 31 following a 1-month layoff caused by an ankle injury.
Two-time World Cup veteran DaMarcus Beasley, among the selected 30, could have a hard time making the final cut. He appeared in just four league matches for Rangers this year and plans to seek a new club.
That leaves forward as the least-settled group.
Altidore’s only goals were Aug. 25 against Southend in the League Cup and Jan. 6 versus Manchester City in the Premier League. And while Buddle has nine goals for the Galaxy, his only national team appearance was 11 minutes as a substitute against Venezuela seven years ago.
Herculez Gomez scored 10 goals for Puebla, becoming the first American to share Mexico’s scoring title, but he’s made just two national team appearances, in the 2007 Copa America. Eddie Johnson, after nearly disappearing from the national team, revived his career with Aris by scoring three goals in the Greek playoffs.
Robbie Findley doesn’t even have a goal for Real Salt Lake this season and left last weekend’s game in the first half with a bruised back.
Health could help determine the final decisions.
“We’ll put a big emphasis early in the camp on fitness,” Bob Bradley said. “We discussed different possibilities given the number of players that are rehabbing and getting back into training, and at the same time not playing in regular games. We felt the need to bring 30 players into the camp and to use that time to further assess where we are with some of those players.”
