U.S. soccer team roster deep but dotted with questions

Of the many called to the U.S. national soccer team over the four-year period between World Cups, the few chosen for the final 23-man 2010 Cup roster, announced Wednesday, included only eight holdovers from 2006 and just four who play professionally at home.

Both facts indicate the Yanks' widening depth of talent and their increasing ability to perform on the global stage. Seventeen are gainfully employed - and several of them starring - in European leagues and two more are based in Mexico, both traditional soccer hothouses.

Still, with the Americans' Cup opener - against the sport's mother country, England - a mere 16 days away, U.S. coach Bob Bradley faces some unsettling questions for the monthlong South Africa-based tournament.

Two of his team's defensive rocks, Oguchi Onyewu (knee) and Carlos Bocanegra (hernia), are barely recovered from surgery and last summer's offensive revelation, Charlie Davies, wasn't sufficiently fit following a serious car accident to be invited to this month's training camp.

Furthermore, Bradley still was evaluating several players on the Cup bubble in Tuesday night's uneven 4-2 tuneup loss against the Czech Republic in East Hartford, Conn. While obvious Cup starters such as Landon Donovan, Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey and goalie Tim Howard - as well as Bocanegra - sat out Tuesday's match, the coach got one last look at six of the seven men who Wednesday were given their walking papers.

Now that the team's personnel is set, two more Cup warm-ups are scheduled - Saturday in Philadelphia against Turkey and June 5 in Roodepoort, South Africa, against Australia.

The final cuts from the 30-man training camp group included two members of the 2006 World Cup team that failed to advance past the first round in Germany, forwards Eddie Johnson and Brian Ching, plus midfielders Alejandro Bedoya, Sacha Kljestan and Robbie Rogers and defenders Chad Marshall and Heath Pearce.

Those were the last to go among 92 players who made at least one national team appearance since Bradley was named coach in 2007.

Leading the list of 15 Cup rookies are Edson Buddle of Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy and Herculez Gomez of Mexico's Puebla F.C., neither an obvious World Cup candidate until flashing recent scoring ability. "As we move into the World Cup," Bradley said, he can use "players on a good roll."

Donovan, who enjoyed a strong winter with England's Everton while on leave from the Galaxy, is one of three Yanks who will be playing in a third World Cup. Midfielders DaMarcus Beasley, after a virtual disappearance from the national team for months and mediocre results with Scotland's Rangers, and right back Steve Cherundolo, who plays for Hannover 96 in Germany, are the others.

The standard expectation is that the Americans will emerge from their first-round Cup group to the knockout round, very possibly against perennial power Germany. Following its opener against England, the United States will play Slovenia June 18 and Algeria June 23.