Bob Bradley Names World Cup Qualifying Roster

The And teh Roster is a little thin, with just 17 names on it. Look for more additions in the coming days as Bradley probably has to talk to a few clubs to get the players cleared.

GOALKEEPERS: Brad Guzan, Tim Howard.
No surprises here. Howard will probably get the nod for a while in qualifying, at least until the U.S. is sure to advance.

DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra, Steve Cherundolo, Jay DeMerit, Frankie Hejduk, Oguchi Onyewu, Heath Pearce.
Also no surprises here. Look for a back line with Cherundolo, Bocanegra, Onyewu and Pearce in it. Hejduk might see action as he could probably run Guatamala into the ground, maybe an impact sub.

MIDFIELDERS: Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu, Sacha Kljestan, Eddie Lewis, Pablo Mastroeni
Only five names here, although Dempsey could play in this area as well. I figure that Freddy Adu is the biggest name missing right now, but Bradley probably hasn't worked out with Monaco, the details of the release, although the club is required to release him for qualifying. But by the same token, Freddy Adu has never been a Bob Bradley favorite because the attack minded Adu "doesn't defend well." Whatever that means. I would expect the additional player to come in this area. If not Adu, maybe someone like Benny Feilhaber (a Bradley favorite) or Ricardo Clark (another favorite). I am happy to see that Maurice Edu and Sacha Klejstan have made the list, I think they were two standouts in Beijing. With this list, look to see Bradley, Mastroeni, Klejstan and Lewis to start.

FORWARDS: Brian Ching, Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Eddie Johnson
A lot of people are probably suprised to see Eddie Johnson here again. But Johnson has appeared in 8 U.S. World Cup Qualifying matches and has scored 8 goals. Do the math. By the same token, Landon Donovan has appeared in 21 Qualifying matches and scored 8 goals. I really hope that Bob Bradley gets his head out and calls in Kenny Cooper or Edson Buddle. They are simply scoring too many goals to be ignored. I expect Donovan and Dempsey to start with Johnson coming on as an impact sub.

Bradley will name the 18th player between now and the time the team departs on Monday for Guatamala City.

All in all, not surpising given that player availability is an issue with the Europena leagues starting up and CONCACAF the only federation holding qualifying right now.