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With the summer fast approaching, and the loaded U.S. national team schedule looming, U.S. coach Bob Bradley will soon be selecting rosters and calling up players for events ranging from international tournaments to World Cup qualifiers.
Bradley is sure to call on established players for the Confederations Cup and qualifiers, but the summer's Gold Cup will give him a chance to look at some new players and maybe, just maybe, give a first cap to a player or two.
With that in mind, I wrote a piece for ESPN.com on the Best XI candidates for a first U.S. national team appearance. The group I came up with is filled with its fair share of young longshots, but also some prospects who should find their way onto the Gold Cup roster, players such as Stuart Holden and Zak Whitbread. Here are some notes on some of my picks (and you can feel free to make your own picks after the jump):
Zak Whitbread is the real deal and I'm not sure how he doesn't get a call in to one of the summer tournaments. A left-footed central defender who has earned a bunch of experience the past few years. Given the shaky state of the No. 3 centerback spot in the U.S. pool, Whitbread could be just what the doctor ordered.
Its tough for some to remember that Stuart Holden doesn't have a cap yet, but he's probably come the closest to getting one of the players who have never had a cap. His season in Houston hasnt been what many expected when he took over for Dwayne DeRosario, but I find it hard to believe he won't get a look this summer.
The MLS rookies on my list, Chris Pontius and Sam Cronin, are both great prospects, but the summer may be too early for both of them. I will say that if they keep playing the way they've been playing, they'll be locks to get called into the January camp. The same applies to Marcus Tracy, who is currently sidelined with an injury.
Tim Ward is easily the most surprising player on my list, but it's a longshot with some history. Bob Bradley drafted him and rated him very highly (actually, Ward lived with Bob and Michael Bradley during his rookie year). Ward has enjoyed a breakout year with the Chicago Fire this season and his versatility at the fullback positions make him an intriguing pick. He's not the best one-on-one defender but is improving. It wouldn't shock me if he got a call.
———
Be sure to give the ESPN.com piece a read and feel free to share your own suggestions for players you would like to see get their first U.S. cap in the near future.
Gold Cup Roster IMO
Forwards
Altidore
Davies
Cooper
Findley
Midfielders
Stuart Holden
Robbie Rogers
Maurice Edu
Jose F. Torres
Freddy Adu
Sacha Kljestan
Benny Feilhaber
Jeremiah White
Defenders
Chad Marshall
Michael Parkhurst
Marvell Wynne
Jonathan Bornstein
Jonathan Spector
Zak Whitbread
Michael Orozco
Patrick Ianni
Goalkeepers
Brad Guzan
Troy Perkins
I think there are some kinks to work out but, yeah I think this is a pretty good idea of what the Gold cup will look like.
Getting a US cap for Rodney Wallace should be in Bradleys best interests. That man is exploding with potential.
“Matt Taylor.”
Yeah. Him, too.
“Hope, Arturo Alvarez gets shot.”
That’s harsh, Jose.
“The internet makes my head hurt.”
Tool.
“Tell FIFA his name is Kyle Beckerman.”
ha.
Hope, Arturo Alvarez gets shot, because he is an aggressive attacking midfielder. At least better some others that have gotten capped.
EA
Check again and you will see that I was listing BB caps/calls, not all caps ever. For example Gibbs has been called in by BB but not capped under BB. Does that “clarify” it for you my friend?
Marco Vidal playing for one of the better Mexican league teams and he is a consistent starter. His Indios beat a Toluca side that finished 2nd in the regular season.
Arturo Alvarez is eligible to play for the US MNT, but since he has been trying to play for El Salvador many don’t want him to play for the US.
La Prensa Grafica (newspaper from El Salvador) reported over the weekend that the Salvadoran Federation will try once again to petition to get the decision overturned so that Arturo can play for El Salvador. I am not sure of all the details but in the story it was saying that there is another similar case to that of Arturo’s and that there is still a chance.
Just thought I would throw that out there since Arturo’s name is being thrown in the mix.
@ sonicdeathmonkey
Arturo Alvarez can play for the US. He can’t play for Salvador I believe, which he recently tried to do but ida don’t allow him to.
The internet makes my head hurt.
Referencing the “clarified list” from above: Busch, Wells, Cannon, Marshall, Dunivant, and Eskandarian have all been capped.
Cory Gibbs has almost 20 caps and was a member of the ’06 World Cup team until he got hurt in the warm up games.
FIFA ruled that Arturo Alvarez could ONLY play for the US internationally.
C’mon guys… fire up a search engine before getting involved in the “who the US should cap” discussions.
Sometimes, I think Ives posts something like this just to see the ensuing whaaaargbl that comes from the unwashed masses.
Whitbred and Vidal. Can Frei even play for us? He came when he was 15, and is no longer living in the US? Lives in Canada?
Jose, I’m assuming you don’t know any better, so let me clue you in. Arturo Alvarez can not play for the US. Zukuani is not a US citizen, so he can not play for the US. And to save you the time and trouble, Donovan Ricketts, Shalrie Joseph, Macumba Kandji, and Michael Ricketts (remember him?) can’t be selected either.
Summary of options from those with no BB caps (* = has old cap)(paren. for those w/ citizenship issues):
GK: Robles, Yeldell, Pickens, Westberg, Thornton*, (Frei)
D: Whitbread, Marshall*, Franklin, Ward, Besler, Vidal, Cameron
M: C. Clark, Alvarez, J. Johnson, Holden, LaBrocca, Jewsbury, Larentowicz, Pontius, Cronin, (Le Toux)
F: Zimmerman, Guy, Tracy, (Kandji), (Movsyssian)
Arturo Alvarez AND Shalrie Joseph….some say how? Here’s my foolproof plan:
1) Grab Joseph
2) Make him wear a long sleeve jersey
3) Put hella white makeup all over him (yes hands and legs included)
4) Tell FIFA his name is Kyle Beckermann
Ok so Kandji wants to play for us, but what is his citizenship status? Anyone know?
To clarify who has been capped, here’s the list as far as I know, in 3 categories:
1. BB cap = capped by Bradley (roughly in order of cap totals)
2. BB call = called into camp or roster by Bradley but not capped
3. Old cap = still active and not capped or called by Bradley, but capped previously
–GK–
BB cap: Howard, Guzan, Keller, Hahnemann, Reis, Perkins
BB call: Busch, Cannon, Cervi, Cronin, Edwards, Hall, Hesmer, Pickens, Seitz, Wells
Old cap: Brown, Hartman, Rimando, Thornton, (Friedel)
–D–
BB cap: Onyewu, Bocanegra, Pearce, Bornstein, Cherundolo, Hejduk, DeMerit, Spector, Califf, Conrad, Simek, Parkhurst, Moor, Albright, Barrett, Boswell, Corrales, Goodson, Ihemelu, Mullan, Namoff, Orozco, Robinson, Wingert, Wynne
BB call: Dunivant, Franklin, Gibbs, Hernandez, Marshall, Purdy, D. Robinson
Old cap: Berhalter, Borchers, CJ Brown, Garcia, Petke, Victorine
–M–
BB cap: Dempsey, Bradley, Beasley, R. Clark, Feilhaber, Kljestan, Mastroeni, Adu, Lewis, Edu, Mapp, Convey, Torres, Beckerman, Carroll, Gaven, Nguyen, Ralston, Szetela, Thorrington, Arnaud, Olsen, Davis, Hill, Marsch, Rogers, White, Zizzo, (Gros)
BB call: Cameron, C. Clark, Holden, Jewsbury, LaBrocca, Shea, (Zavagnin)
Old cap: Klein, Mulrooney, Quaranta, Simms
–F–
BB cap: Donovan, Johsnon, Ching, Twellman, Altidore, Rolfe, Davies, Cooper, Wolff, Barrett, Casey, Findley, Gomez, Jaqua, Noonan, Razov,
BB call: Eskandarian, Zimmerman
Old cap: Buddle, Cunnigham, Mathis, (McBride), Kirovski, Wolyniec
Why not Alvarez or Holden. Alvarez is a naturally skilled player and Holden is a great two way player. Seems like the two would be great on the field together.
Pontius also looks good but as some one said before lets wait.
Scott C from Buff-
how can you leave Besler off your LB list?
Here’s the link:
http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/unmellow-yellow-for-galaxy-and-sounders/#more-4129
So essentially, Kandji wants to be capped.
all i know is MLS is gunna be like watching NCAA’s in july haha
To the ppl who have been telling me that Kandji is Senegalese…yes I know. And I think about his “cap”-ability often. But this was in Jack Bell’s Goal blog,
“Red Bulls striker Macoumba Kandji, 23, who scored twice in Friday’s emphatic 4-1 win over visiting San Jose, has an interesting pedigree. His father, he said, played internationally for Senegal. His mother fled Gambia 20 years ago after student protests against the government at the time; she was granted political asylum in the United States. He has been offered the opportunity to play internationally for both nations, but holds out hope of perhaps one day playing for the United States. He is also the only Red Bulls player to call Manhattan home.”
Holds out hope for the Yanks…lives in Manhattan…come on guys. You have to love him. Cap him!
Ives, truly a sucessful post given the number ad tenor of the coments. In that vein, an article handicapping the chances of non-US citizens who could get citizenship and be called in. There are some interesting names being bandied about and some others I’m sure we haven’t thought of.
I love the interwebs.
Agree with John D. Robles should be given a shot tween the pipes for the Nats. Also think David Yelldell and Matt Taylor should be called up.
I could see Ward getting a call. BB loves defenders that think they’re mids.
Haha…No, Ward is a solid defender and obviously I love having him on the Fire. But his Hejduk-like tactics forced a comment…
Gold cup is early July, and a FIFA recognized tournament, so I think Bob should easily be able to use European players in the Gold cup. It’s a great opportunity to look at European players and MLS players that were not called up for the Confed. cup.
Bob should look at players where we’re weak, the left side; I don’t think we need to look at any more defensive mids or keepers. Here’s who I’d like to see called in (not necessarily 1st caps, though):
Colin Clark (left sided attacker)
Marco Vidal (good left back prospect)
Wallace (he’s played in the US a while – isn’t he eligible?)
Conner Casey
Santino Quaranta
Arturo Alvarez
(and yes, I know they are not all left footed 🙂
Chad Marshall (from The Crew official website):
Had four caps (3/9/05, 3/19/05, 9/7/05 and 10/12/05) through March 2007… 9/7, 10/12 were both World Cup qualifying matches… Earned his first cap on 3/9/05, starting a friendly vs. Colombia, and scored a goal in his debut, a 3-0 U.S. victory…
Born in ’84, so he was only 20-21 when he was capped by the senior team.
@ea haha… Le Toux is French, Kandji Senegalese, Frei is Swiss…
Zakuani is from gamibia I think, then moved to england.
“Sean just because your a celtic supporter lets not get crazy.
Cervi is a poor mans zeljko kalac, which is poor to begin with.”
Cervi just got his passport,so looks like he will come in,Im guessing we might sell Artur Boruc, because we also have Zaluska coming from Dundee (another pole goalie) and I don’t see a point of having three decent goalies.
Cervi be massive (ali g voice), as in being really tall,not great
U.S. pool depth is getting impressive.
Almost related — what channel has the rights for the Confederations Cup? ESPN or FSC?
Steve Zakuani, Is he a US citizen?
Stephen Frei!!!! hes the only one who can play for someone else
FYI for all of those throwing out foreign born players, our politicos are not going to bend over backwards to expedite the citizenship process for the benefit of the national team (like they do in other countries). The USSF does not have the political power to naturalize someone like Luciano Emilio, who has only been in the country a couple of years, overnight.
It seems like players like Frei and Wallace would be more likely cases, as they have been in the country for a decent amount of time (assuming they would even want to play for the US.
Also, not sure why people are knocking Whitbread in here so much. If stiffs like Danny Califf are getting a serious look, why not at least give Whitbread a shot in the Gold Cup.
Ives,
Ward’s time at the U-20s was actually less than two years ago, not five, in 2007.
To my knowledge, he was injured in 2005.
JB- im eligible to while we are talking about guys who have no chance of being called up
I’m still wondering weather Movsisyan is eligible to be called up for the U.S. this summer? This should be his 8th year in the U.S. after coming here from Azerbaijan on refugee status. He should be eligible for U.S. citizenship this year, which would make him eligible for the U.S.
Joe W,
You’re on the money. Buy Gulati & Bradley said their focus is on Conf. Cup. Gold Cup will be mostly MLS kind of guys like Cooper as you noted. But I don’t see guys like Edu, DeMerrit, etc. making the Gold Cup, by their choice. August is pre-season is most of Europe and it’s very important for players to be with their club. If not they could wind up on the bench for the rest of 2009.
I see guys like Cooper, Casey, Wynne, Simek, Orozco, Beckerman Mapp, and Geoff Cameron making up the Gold Cup squad.
JoeW,
A couple of things that are a little off from your post…
First, the schedule is 2 WCQs at the beginning of June, then to Confed Cup, then to Gold Cup at the beginning of July, and then to Azteca for a WCQ in August.
Bob won’t be “trying players out” for a WCQ, and I suspect, for the Confed Cup, either.
Those will STRICTLY be best 18 (or 23), as they should be.
The Gold Cup will be an opportunity for those who are outside of the top 11/18/23 to cement thier spot for next summer. This won’t be an experimental roster at all. It will be guys like DeMerit, Califf, Adu, Edu, Cooper, etc., and perhaps guys from Europe who are out of season and want to contribute or expand thier role with the team, like Cherundolo or Guzan.
MLS guys won’t be playing in both, because if they did, they’d be away from thier team for 2 months. Donovan, Hejduk, Pablo, will play the WCQs and CC and then go back to thier teams.
Duh?! Not Jewsbury, as soon as I posted it I realized it was Davy Arnaud.
Sorry.
The guy who’s going to get a call up this summer and is not a sexy pick is Jack Jewsbury.
He scored 3 incredible goals early in the year. All 3 were Premirship (or La Liga or Siere A) quality.
lol at all foreigners called up to the US team…
How about Beckham and Freddy Ljundberg? Can’t we get them to play for us?
Re the ESPN article, Pontius is not left-footed. Not sure if he’s ready for a cap, but he certainly has adapted to MLS well.
Cervi?
Yikes. Did you guys not see the Toulon tournament last year?
I’d take any of about a dozen American MLS keepers (Reis, Cannon, Hesmer, et al) before I’d want to see Cervi in a US jersey.
He’d make Troy Perkins look like GiGi Buffon.