Edgar Castillo has been called into his first U.S. national team camp.
The New Mexico native and former Mexican national team player was one of four new players called into the U.S. men's national team camp ahead of Wednesday's friendly against Denmark. He will be joining the U.S. team for the first time since the new FIFA rule that allowed him to change national team affiliations from Mexico to the United States.
Midfielders Stuart Holden and Jose Francisco Torres were also called in, as was Ricardo Clark.
Here is the full squad:
GOALKEEPERS: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton), Troy Perkins (Valerenga)
DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Edgar Castillo (Tigres), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham)
MIDFIELDERS: Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Dax McCarty (FC Dallas), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), José Francisco Torres (Pachuca)
FORWARDS: Jozy Altidore (Hull City), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Jeff Cunningham (FC Dallas), Eddie Johnson (Fulham)
Clint Dempsey, Steve Cherundolo and Chad Marshall have been sent home. According to U.S. Soccer, neither Dempsey or Cherundolo is injured, but Marshall is carrying a knee injury.
What do you think of the squad? Excited to see Castillo finally called in? Think Holden and Torres should start vs. Denmark? Who didn't get called in that you were hoping to see?
Share your thoughts below.
Get your facts staight. It was Rogers that sent in the final cross vs. Costa Rica. Torres sent in the one that Gooch had to move for and got hurt.
Do these count as an official cap? Or is it just a cap overall? I mean if Castillo starts/plays does this count as the cap to keep him as a US Nat?
Kinda surprised Geoff Cameron was not called in to at least train with the team. He looked wonderful against both Seattle and L.A. He did a great job holding Montero, Ljunberg (at times), and Donovan in check. Personally thought him and Holden were the best players on the field in the Dynamo v Galaxy match. I assume he is a shoe in to be called in January. Hope he is anyway b.c. while he may not be ready to check the Benzema’s and Rooney’s of the world he is on that track with his raw skills and athletic ability.
not that one cross makes a career but torres provided the service on the bornstein equaliser vs. Costa Rica. How fast some of us forget…
I couldn’t agree more. I doubt he will be much of an upgrade, if at all. We’ll find out though…
According to Grant Wahl, Torres is out of the friendly.
Excused for personal reasons.
I second this. Congrats to Castillo (and don’t forget your passport).
After subs:
——————–Johnson——————
—Castillo————————-Rogers—
————–McCarty—–Kljestan———–
———————Clark——————
Pearce——Bocanegra—–Goodson—–Spector
———————-Guzan——————
It’s on ESPN2 I believe.
I want to congratulate Castillo on his first cap, go USA…
I think Bradley may/should rest Rogers. He’s an excellent player but I think he’s shown us that he’s, at this point, a better player off the bench, i.e. Costa Rica.
That being said, I believe that we should build on the Bradley Feilhaber partner ship by playing either Clark or Torres with those two. The idea is that if it’s Feilhaber-Bradley-Clark, Feilhaber sit’s deep, but this time he’s got Clark to act as a shield should he lose the ball or get in trouble, although Clark’s passing, while it has improved, isn’t that great. If it’s Feilhaber-Bradley-Torres, then it gives Feilhaber someone with quick feet and quick passing to creatively interchange with, although he’s not as good of a defensive option as Clark. The point of both is for Bradley to be able to make the runs forward that trouble most teams, and the reason for most of his goals, without sacrificing too much defensively.
We could always go with this:
I feel we should go with this
——————–Altidore—-Johnson—————
—————————Holden———————
————–Bradley—————–Feilhaber——-
—————————Torres———————
Castillo—————————————Spector
——————-Bocanegra—-Goodson—————
—————————Guzan———————-
I know it looks like a diamond but when you play a diamond you play more towards the center of the field
Then again, Denmark will probably be a more offensively threatening team( not a knock on Slovakia) so Clark coming in defensively wouldn’t surprise me, but with that knock he took to his knee, he might not be able to cover as much ground as we need him too.
Does anyone have information on whether this game will be on TV, and if so what channel? US Soccer has still not posted any TV information, and the game is 3 days away….
Bornstein’s poor performance definately warrants a start for Pearce or Castillo. I would like to see Castillo get some PT but maybe not the start since he is just with the team.
glad to see castillo in there. he, torres, and holden should all get starting nods. i think johnson should start up front with altidore. trial by fire in a game that doesnt matter that much. he either can do it or he cant. ADU should have been called up for this one with donovan out though. torres will really need to be creative to help the squad.
It’s on ESPN2
Are any channels showing the game on Wednesday?????
Agree, withdrawn striker behind Jozy and quickly.
We have to see what his on field play is. People who want out with the old in with the new seem to only see the positives of “new”. Castillo may be a guy who can dribble through four players(against a team who had ten men), but just like people say Bornstein can get beaten against good competition, Castillo could lose that ball against a quality defender and leave that whole flank open. We have to minimize the risk as much as possible.
Again, this next game is to see whether he will do well against competition that IS going to be at the next World Cup. Bornstein didn’t seem to do well, but we don’t have anyway of knowing that Castillo will.
Is Castillo really that much better than Bornstein offensively anyways? Bornstein has had 9 goals for Chivas in 102 appearances and Castillo has had 5 goals in 99 appearances for all clubs in the same league(Mexico). Though Bornstein has had more time, 6 goals came in his rookie season when he was 22.
Sadly correct, ‘shoe-in’, but not by me.
Kyle, “Kamara is simply better, and Zamora is a completely different…”
Not agreeing but Kyle, you answered your own previous question about EJ’s playing time.
I’d like to see Torres start.
Bob should put him under the gun and see what he’s made of. Does he have a player that can play with Mike/Clark whoever if there is an injury to one of the front 2-3 CMs.
Or is Torres better?
Or weaker than thought.
That’s a pick for 2010 decision that needs answering and IMHO has not been asnwered by sub minutes during mop up time. With few games remaining it’s time Bob created a decent opportunity for the youngster who has demonstrated superior ball handling skills .
I’m assuming this is just a bad joke?
I wish we had something similar to the Man Utd “Victory V” on the chest. I have no issue with the shorts, just the jersey.
The “V” pattern with a Red 1″ “V”, 1″ space of white followed by a second 1″ “V” in Blue would be sweet. Add in some White shorts with Red piping on one side and blue on the other. I’d drop the coin for the jersey.
I think EJ looked a lot more comfortable with the ball than I have ever seen. Only two back passes that I can recall. LOL! I also like his instincts when combning w/ Deuce. The way he peeled away from the defender and found space for his SOG was quite nice. He tried a similar movement to the left later, but Clint’s pass was forced into a crowded area.
I liked what I saw. Just wish he had more time.
Jozy’s play did not help open the game for either of his partners. It’s like he and “the Ogre” were both playing the hold up role. NOT IMPRESSED!
So what if they are even Defensively. If he is an upgrade in anyway over Bornstein why shouldn’t he play?
Should JB get a loyalty bonus or something? No “effing” way!
Why wasn’t Castillo called in??? Fire Bob Bradley….
Hoping to see:
Forwards:
Jozy – EJ
Wingers:
Robbie – Holden
Center Midfield:
Bradley – Torres
Defense:
Bornstein – Boca – Goodson – Spector
Subs:
45′ Benny (Holding Mid) for Bradley, Castillo (Left Back) for Johnny B, Conrad for Boca
60′ Cunningham (Second Striker) for EJ, Clark (Holding Mid/ Benny moves AM role in the “diamond”) for Torres, Heydude (RB move Spector inside) for Goodson
80′ Pearce for Rogers (Castillo moves to Left Mid), Casey for Altidore (Target Striker), Sasha for Holden (Right Mid)
I think this game like the other has unlimited Subs. At least I hope so …
As much as I hate to say it, Jozy’s hold up play isn’t good enough to play that kind of formation.
Well don’t forget he’s been playing a lot for Fulham with Europea League and all.
Unfortunately, even though I like the guy, Bornstein is the weak link on the defense, as the last game showed. Whoever plays us, will work on Bornstein all night. Lets see what Castillo gives us.
Is Cherundolo ok? He looked hurt at the end of the game. That would be a bad loss as well. I hope we play with the same type of ball pressure, and possession as we did in the last game. That was nice to see. Then all we have to do is work on the scoring, and Conor is just too slow.
Dolo took that last cross deflecting off of his knee. He planted right. Tried to knock it down w/ the left peg. Took it in the side of his knee. Was in pain. Game over.
That is the “knock” he picked up. He was evaluated. He was cleared. What else is there to report?
Should have sent EJ home, too.
Dempsey should not be called in for further friendlies.
His lackadaisical playing is pathetic.
Bornstein was garbage yesterday.
Give Castillo a break, Ducky.
and nobody wants your opinion
…for the US, sorry Jimmy, didnt mean to upset you.
RoDgers didn’t play the other day. ROGERS did. The most respect you can give a person is getting their name right.
I think Jozy is just lacking confidence. As for the role of captain I think the players voted for Boca and I think Donovan doesn’t mind that he’s the vice captain.
What is up with dempsey? I mean getting pissed cause he got subbed out in a friendly? His attitude has been bad ever since he won that bronze ball that he didn’t deserve it should have gone to Landon. No one ever again should question what Landon Donovan does for this team, he should be the captain Carlos doesn’t do enough for me, no one was getting after the guys to step on slovakia and get that goal, the passing was good but the movement off the ball was to predictable there wasn’t that motor in the midfield that could change the game. I don’t know what the hell they are teaching jozy at hull but he looks slow and he lacks confidence, its so sad to see how he has digressed, MLS isn’t the best league in the world but you can tell the mls guys all have confidence in themselves,Jozy dosen’t have that anymore, he looks truly lost.
if spector can handle both right back and center back it makes him a much more attractive option than having to bring in someone like marshall onto the roster. It can free up a spot for our midfield or god help us, a forward. Our defensive pool in SA could be something like this
boca gooch spector dolo bornstein demerit pearce marshall. By my count thats 4 possibly center backs, 2 right backs, 2 LBs and spector could possibly handle central duty. IF that turns out to be the case, drop marshall and add a midfield/flex position that could very well be mr. jermaine jones or senor edgar castillo
here’s what id like to see
jozy cunningham
holden torres rogers
bradley
bornstein boca spector hejduk
benny sub for torres
castillo for bornstein
johnson for jozy
clark for bradley
_____________Guzan____________
Spector-Goodsen-Boca-Bornstein
————McCarty———–
-Holden—-Bradley—Castillo-
————–Jozy————
————EJ—————-
“Donovan is usually the best player on the field, the only reason he doesn’t dominate the way he does in MLS is because the guys he’s playing against are better.”
jig- Another way to say that is Donovan is the usually the best player on the field unless the other players are better. For example if we played Brazil he would be the best player on the field except for 10 Brazilians (he’s probably better than their goalkeeper). Tha’s what you mean right?
You knew that before the Slovakia game.
Cherundolo was a pall bearer at his teammates funeral so that’s probably why he left
I’m OK with the other guys getting one more shot, but if no one steps up, it’s got to be Dempsey up top with Jozy from here on out.
In a starting lineup? I would be very worried. And I’m a Casey defender because I think he gets too much heat. But his limitations are real, and if he’s starting, we’re in trouble.
I wish Onyewu had been able to limp around.
Kamara is simply better, and Zamora is a completely different type of player who’s actually been having a charmed season. One would have thought that Andy Johnson’s injury would have opened some time for Eddie though, but Hodgson opted for slotting Dempsey in up top at times instead.
Well, Jozy’s not exactly a shoe-in starter on a HORRIBLE Hull City squad, yet he’s considered a lock for the US.
The reason he plays well at Fulham is because he is competing every week for his place on the field. Fulham’s midfield is stacked with capable players. One slip up and he is on the bench.
US does not function this way. Look at how Capello manages the England team. Dempsey knows he can get away with it on the US team. There is no one that can compete with him right now.
Alright, now we have a better team. I’m glad Dempsey is out. His attitude and play is so inconsistent. Like I have said before, he only gives us 15 minutes of magic in a game and so many turnovers the rest of the time. He needs to be our super sub.
Starting line up should be the following:
GK: Guzan
RB: Spector
CB: Goodson
CB: Boca
LB: Castillo when clark out move Castillo up to LM
RM: Holden
CM: Benny sub Bradley
CM: Clark sub out for Bornstein at LB
LM: Torres move to CM
F: Altidore
F: Cunningham sub Johnson
After we score, lets not bunker down. This is a friendly for crying out loud. We need to practice as if we are behind and score.
We do not need to see sasha…he still sucks and can’t hold the ball. Bradley should have called Orozco and played him. Rogers does need to come in to bring in some energy. NO casey either.
Bradley, if you do not play Torres, Castillo and Holden you are and continue to be an I**ot! If you play Sacha you need to be fired.
Good luck and go USA!