Freddy Adu is one of the 20 players that Bob Bradley has summoned upon for the United States' final 2008 World Cup qualifier against Guatemala this Wednesday in Commerce City, Colorado.
As expected, Bradley has left most of the European contingent with their clubs and has decided to go with a heavily based domestic side, as 14 of the 20 players are plying their trade in Major League Soccer.
The squad selected also consists of mostly inexperienced players as 13 of the 20 have 10 caps or fewer. But with the Americans already having secured their passage into next year's Hexagonal, this game serves as a way to give those inexperienced guys some minutes against a Guatemalan side that has everything to play for.
“This match gives us an opportunity to test many of our players in what will be a very hard game,” said Bradley. “Guatemala will certainly be pressing for a victory, and we want to end this round on a positive note."
Here's the roster for Wednesday's tilt:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Troy Perkins (Valerenga IF), Matt Pickens (out of contract)
DEFENDERS (6): Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Sean Franklin (Los Angeles Galaxy), Cory Gibbs (Colorado Rapids), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Drew Moor (FC Dallas), Michael Parkhurst (New England Revolution)
MIDFIELDERS (5): Freddy Adu (AS Monaco), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids), John Thorrington (Chicago Fire)
FORWARDS (6): Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Davy Arnaud (Kansas City Wizards), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Kenny Cooper (FC Dallas), Chris Rolfe (Chicago Fire)
Caught up in all of the MLS Final talk as well as the Neven Subotic hoopla yesterday (which got kind of ugly on some parts of cyber space), I didn't get a chance to talk about Bob Bradley's roster, which was released yesterday evening. My take on his player selections are that though this wasn't a predictable bunch, it was quite obvious that he didn't intend on calling up the core group.
With that said, there remains much to play for as far as the Americans are concerned. Guys like fan favorite Kenny Cooper and veteran Pablo Mastroeni will have a chance to show Bradley that they want to be a part of the squad in 2009 and beyond. While the trio of Adu, Sacha Kljestan and Jozy Altidore look to cement their spots with the "A team", other players, like defenders Cory Gibbs and Jonathan Bornstein, look to bounce back and impress after injuries caused them to serve lengthy hiatuses from the squad.
For a game that's so meaningless, it sure should be interesting.
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