photo by Thomas Eisenhuth/ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
Jurgen Klinsmann has released the roster for the U.S. men's national team's upcoming friendlies against Honduras and Ecuador, and there are plenty of familiar faces and one brand new face.
German-born midfielder/defender Danny Williams has been called in for his first U.S. national team camp. The son of an American serviceman, Williams currently plies his trade with TSG Hoffenheim.
The rest of the roster for matches against Honduras and Ecuador is comprised of mostly the same guys Klinsmann has called in for his previous two camps, including Landon Donovan, Tim Howard, Carlos Bocanegra, Kyle Beckerman and Michael Orozco Fiscal.
Oguchi Onyewu and Nick Rimando were summoned for the first time by Klinsmann, who is still looking for his first win as U.S. head coach.
Here's the rest of the 22-man roster:
Goalkeepers: Tim Howard, Bill Hamid, Nick Rimando
Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra, Timmy Chandler, Steve Cherundolo, Oguchi Onyewu, Michael Orozco Fiscal, Tim Ream, Jonathan Spector
Midfielders: Kyle Beckerman, Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, Maurice Edu, Jeff Larentowicz, Brek Shea, Danny Williams
Forwards: Juan Agudelo, Jozy Altidore, DaMarcus Beasley, Teal Bunbury, Landon Donovan
Klinsmann is hoping that the continuity of the core group of players will pay off, and he's also looking for better finishing after the U.S. team scored just one goal through his first three games.
"We would like to continue seeing our players develop through these initial couple of months,” Klinsmann told USSoccer.com. “One important thing is to see continuity in the build-up of our national team and also in the way we work as coaches. We'd like to see new faces as well, but we also don't want to shake up the core structure of the team too much.
"The two results with Costa Rica and Belgium didn't work in our favor but we saw clearly that the team started to understand what we demand from them in terms of pace, playing style and how to play. We are definitely on the right path, and what we now need to focus on in this get together is the eagerness to finish things off up front."
The United States will take on Honduras at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Florida on Oct. 8. Three days later the Americans will host their first ever game at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey against Ecuador.
Just like his last camp, Klinsmann is opening a training session for public viewing before each game. The open session in Miami will take place at Sun Life Stadium on Friday, Oct. 7 from 5-6pm, and the one in New Jersey will be at Red Bull Arena on Oct. 10 from 5-6pm.
The United States has won eight of its last nine games against Honduras dating back to 2002, though the Catrachos won the last meeting back on January 23, 2010.
The Americans have not faced Ecuador since Donovan scored a hat-trick in a 3-1 victory at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on March 25, 2007.
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What do you think of the roster? Who do you think should/shouldn't have been called in? Who is missing that you were hoping to see called up?
Share your thoughts below.
Orozco is Klinsi’s Bornstein!
Injured…
XD
Did I miss something? Why no Torres?
It is certainly a possibility, but Dempsey will be in there, which excludes Shea unless he plays on the second level. Not sure how well the holding mids would do together, but you never know. I just don’t want to see 4-5-1, we don’t have a striker to perform that role, and our midfield becomes far too congested. So I’ll stick to the 4-4-2 for the moment (again, based on this particular roster), but a 4-3-3 happened, I think it would look like this.
Dempsey—Altidore—Donovan
Shea——-Edu——-Bradley
Spector—Boca—Gooch—Dolo
———–Howard————
I see a 4-3-3 With Shea, Donovan and Altidore playing forward. 3 Holding mids would be bradley, edu and beckerman?
Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Also, Bedoya and Klestjan could have been included in the roster. Would have helped in the creativity/attacking department, more so with Bedoya. I’d drop Laurentowicz and Beasley or Laurentowicz and Beckerman to include those two. Bedoya has been slowly getting into the Rangers side, and Klestjan has been playing a consistent 90 minutes in all competitions.
My ideal line up out of these players
GK Howard
LB Cherundolo
CB Onyewu, Bocanegra
RB Chandler
CDM Edu
RM Shea
CAM Dempsey
LM Beasley
CF Donovan
ST Altidore
Agree, all are good players with physical games, teams need that, especially when the opposition takes two footed runs at your goalie.
Good picks, would like to see Gonzo and George at CB some time soon, and Cameron as DM/CB.
There’s some sorces that say he doesn’t even have his passport but I assume all that is clear up now that his citizenship is certified
Yes he can officially play!!! He doesn’t have those paperworks
Yeah, glad to see Gooch has worked his way back into the mix. After a frightful couple of years, I’m happy for the big lug.
On Gonzo, he’s played every minute of all of these games the Galaxy have been playing and is needed badly on that team for all games remaining. still, I do not get the Fiscal/Ream love coach is giving them while others can’t get a sniff. Coach really believes they are our best options??? not sure what that means but it’s unsettling to say the least
clearly Klinsmann has his favorites. If Bradley had called in this team, good God, bloody murder!!!!
Does anyone know if Daniel Williams can officially play for the US against Honduras and Ecuador?
Just to confirm (straight Per the FIFA site)
” All players participating in the preliminary and final competition of the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament London 2012 shall be born on or after 1 January 1989, with the exception of a maximum of three players who do not meet this age limit who may also be included in the official list of players for the final competition”
Omar born: 10/11/1988 Not age eligible
George John: 03/20/1987 Not age eligible
correct. thus far, most of the USMNT in the klinsmann era have looked liked crap.
I fail to see how you came up with the idea that i was a Kansas fanboy lol. I know my nake downtime technically mean anything, but seriously. Is this like the new internet thing where if anyone likes something you don’t then the are a “fanboy” ? Lol get over yourself. It’s my opinion that they aren’t good enough. They are one the same level as rogers and dont need to be wasted time spent on them.
Unfortunately that will never happen, considering they all play the same position.
Tim Ream has been playing piss poor for NYRB. What is it with the fascination with him? He is miles away from being at an international level. Hell, he’s miles away from being a top defender in MLS. There are at least 10 American defenders in MLS that are better than him and nearly as young. The entire Galaxy backline is better and as young.
Agreed! Mixx, Omar and John are stellar. Also, Franklin is injured but he’s top notch of late. Not too stoked on the lineup.
I think what worries me the most is that we are about to see Brad Davis turn 30 soon and he would be one of the best mids on the field for the US, he doesnt have much time to leave a mark & should be called when he is on the best form of his life aswell as Dunivant… An even more worrisome note? George John… He doesnt want to play for Greece but if you dont give him what he deserves, he may just split…
1) Zero offensive presence in CM. Golden opportunity to call in Mixx or Adu goes to waste.
2) I understand the whole need to have a “core” group but what have Ream, Orozco and Larentowicz done to be part of the core? I think Bradley was able to get more different guys into camp.
3) Core is really for later on, as we are prepping for qualifiers. This is classic, “call in a bunch of new guys” territory in the schedule. Is Klinsi feeling the pressure to win over promoting the best long term interest of the team? Yes, these guys know your system better, but wouldn’t it be better to get LOTS of different guys exposed to your style of play before settling on a core? It seems way too early.
3) It is still early and Klinsi must be given a good year before we start panicking, but it is tough to see the rationale behind some of his calls and non-calls.
While I agree he should not be called up because multiple players deserve it more… He is one of the best CM’s in MLS.
You talkin about the Benny who has been playing decent at best for the worst team in MLS? There is about a list of 20-25 I would arguably almost call ahead of Benny atm, as much as I like him
Ok, some might get after me about this but I am already getting fed up with Klinsmann in certain aspects… He has really refused to call in any uncapped or those with few capped US players playing great in MLS, Labrocca, Davis, John, Gonzalez, & Dunivant. BUT HE KEEPS CALLING Larentowicz, Ream, Orozco, & Bunbury. I do appreciate that he has finally ackowledged Rimando though. Findley & Gomez also should be given calls soon as they have proven to be both good sub strikers and starting strikers for their clubs. Chandler should not be our LB solution, we need to check out other CB’s & move Boca to LB or try Dunivant…
I guess I’ll give my preferred line-up of the group…
Howard
Cherundolo Onyewu Bocanegra Chandler
Bradley Beckerman
Dempsey Donovan Shea
Altidore
I guess he misses the cutoff by 17 days. Crap.
So you just want JK to completely discard the core of the team that will take us through qualifying and into the 2014 WC? You want to get rid of YOUNG players like Ream, Bradley, Bunbury and Altidore? You want to discard our best players like Donovan, Dempsey and Bocanegra?
If you aren’t playing them, please pick 22 players to represent us that don’t include any of the ones you listed above? This ought to be entertaining …
How about brining in Brad Davis or Geoff Cameron
Geoff Cameron
Fabian Johnson is injured.
I would. 29 or not, Cool Herc can score goals.
Sapong is not eligible for the Olympic squad.
I would like to see geoff cameron and omar gonzalez. These guys have potential
Um…NO.
Seriously?
Yeah. Some inclusions are a little strange, while some missing players concerns me. Some have their teams to deal with (Mix and Gatt), while others aren’t playing regularly or injured. However, I would have preferred to see Gonzalez and John. Fiscal and Ream should be dropped in favor of those two. I’m not a fan of the Beasley inclusion, no matter how he’s currently doing. I’d love to be surprised, but I honestly don’t expect much out of him. I do like the Bunbury inclusion, get him so more experience.
My main concern is the fact that we have nothing in the way of creativity in the center of the midfield. It’s all defensive mids. Bradley, Edu, Beckerman, Williams, and Larentowicz. Fabian Johnson is still injured I believe, so him not on the roster makes sense, but we could use the creativity.
This is what I hope to see given this specific roster.
—–Altidore——–Agudelo—–
Shea—-Dempsey—-Edu—-Donovan
Spector–Boca–Onyewu–Cherundolo
————–Howard————-
Franklin is injured and I wouldn’t be surprised if Arena asked JK to hold off with Omar until January because the Galaxy is so thin at center back right now.
I think so as well. The end of the Norwegian season is mid to late October, so they’re better off with their teams for the moment. I’m sure come January, they will both be included in the squad (mix and gatt).
The US has struggled to find a left back for many, many years, and Cherundolo has never budged from the right. I’ll bet any sum of money that he never does.
What does this guy have against Benny!?!?!?!? Geez!! And where’s Sascha?!?!?!
+1
Cherundolo played left back for Hannover in a Europa league game recently.
So “never” isn’t appropriate.
true, friendlies are a good time for prospects to get time but when there are other prospects who are further developed…
I hope you’re right…maybe playing some politics before he cuts a bunch of these has-bins.
Indeed
+1 , NY has 2 of the better USNT prospects in Ream and Agudelo.. but we shouldn’t rush them! let experienced players take their spots until they are ready
My bad for not checking my facts. That said, Fiscal was decent against Mexico, and I know he played in that one.
Adu > Mix for the “future #10” spot
Well, Danny Williams is getting a look. That counts for something, too.