photo by Hunter Dorton/ISIphotos.com
Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Carlos Bocanegra and Tim Howard headline the U.S. men's national team roster for the upcoming friendlies in Europe against France and Slovenia.
There's one new face in camp, with Hertha Berlin defender Alfred Morales among the 22 players selected by Klinsmann. Born in Germany, Morales won't be the only German-American in camp, as Danny Williams and Fabian Johnson have been called back into the squad.
Here's the roster:
Goalkeepers (2): Tim Howard, Bill Hamid
Defenders (7): Steve Cherundolo, Oguchi Onyewu, Carlos Bocanegra, Timmy Chandler, Clarence Goodson, Michael Orozco Fiscal, Alfredo Morales
Midfielders (9): Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu, Clint Dempsey, Brek Shea, Danny Williams, Fabian Johnson, Kyle Beckerman, Jermaine Jones, Robbie Rogers
Forwards (4): Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley, Jozy Altidore, Edson Buddle
Jermaine Jones and Robbie Rogers are two players who also return to the U.S. team after missing out in the October friendlies.
The upcoming camp will be the first time Donovan and Dempsey are together under Klinsmann. Donovan, who missed last month's matches due to injury, is one of five MLS players in camp.
Donovan and Kyle Beckerman are the two lone MLS-based guys who could be involved in the MLS Cup final, which takes place five days after the friendly against Slovenia. Klinsmann addressed the scheduling conflict for potential MLS Cup participants to ussoccer.com.
"We have a very positive line of communication with MLS," said Klinsmann. "We agreed that whoever will be involved in the final will be released after the game against France, which gives them more than a week to prepare."
A couple of notable omissions from recent camps are forwards Juan Agudelo and Teal Bunbury, though Klinsmann explained the reasoning for their absences.
“Both right now are in a challenging position with the full team because of players ahead of them," said Klinsmann. "Our thought is that if they are not in the starting lineup for us, this is a great opportunity to get an introduction with the Under-23 team and to play two full games. It’s better for them than sitting on the bench, and they experience another development path by playing with the U-23s."
The United States takes on France on Nov. 11 before playing Slovenia in a rematch of the 2010 World Cup group game four days later.
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What do you think of the roster? Any one you would have like to seen included/left off? Think this team can get results against France and Slovenia? Surprised Klinsmann called in Donovan and Beckerman with MLS Cup looming?
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