By DAN KARELL
U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann named his 30-man preliminary World Cup squad on Monday, but there were plenty of notable absences.
Some of the standout names of players that missed the cut were Eddie Johnson, Sacha Kljestan, Brek Shea, Juan Agudelo, and defender Tim Ream. Johnson was a key contributor for the USMNT during World Cup qualifying and during last year’s Gold Cup, but his form has dipped since joining D.C. United, failing to score a goal in eight games.
Kljestan was a constant in Klinsmann’s USMNT World Cup qualifying squads but hasn’t played much in the past six months, losing his place in the Anderlecht starting lineup. Brek Shea’s time in England this year has been about as up and down as his play, though he did score the game-winning-goal in the 2013 Gold Cup.
Ream played a full season with Bolton and was named the club’s Player of the Year but has only been on the USMNT fringes since the 2011 Gold Cup. Same goes for Agudelo, who has been on and off the field for the past 12 months due to a number of injuries, and hasn’t featured for the USMNT since 2012.
Other notable absences include former members of the 2010 USMNT World Cup squad such as Herculez Gomez, Stuart Holden, Jose Torres, and Benny Feilhaber.
To give you an idea of just how much talent is in the current U.S. player pool, here is a list of 30 players who missed the cut for today’s USMNT roster:
GOALKEEPERS (3)
Bill Hamid, Sean Johnson, Tally Hall
DEFENDERS (10)
Tim Ream, Edgar Castillo, Tony Beltran, Michael Orozco, Shane O’Neill, Oguchi Onyewu, Will Packwood, Jonathan Spector, Matt Hedges, Eric Lichaj
MIDFIELDERS (11)
Sacha Kljestan, Benny Feilhaber, Stu Holden, Danny Williams, Brek Shea, Jose Torres, Josh Gatt, Luis Gil, Alfredo Morales, Eric Alexander, Joe Gyau
FORWARDS (6)
Eddie Johnson, Juan Agudelo, Will Bruin, Herculez Gomez, Jack McInerney, Mike Magee
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What do you think of those who missed out? How many of these players do you see making the next World Cup squad?
Share your thoughts below.