U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa: 2/2 SO), Tim Howard (Everton FC: 6/5 SO), Troy Perkins (Valerenga IF: 0/0) DEFENDERS (8): Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes: 16/2), Danny Califf (FC Midtjylland: 2/0), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96: 17/0), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC: 1/0), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew: 13/1), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege: 11/0), Michael Orozco (San Luis: 0/0), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock: 5/0) MIDFIELDERS (7): Freddy Adu (AS Monaco: 1/0), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers: 19/4), Michael Bradley (Borussia Moenchengladbach: 5/2), Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers: 3/0), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA: 3/0), Danny Szetela (Brescia Calcio: 0/0), José Francisco Torres (Pachuca: 0/0) FORWARDS (5): Jozy Altidore (Villarreal C.F.: 0/0), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo: 9/4), Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF: 0/0) Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC: 11/4), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy: 24/8) *numbers indicate all-time World Cup Qualifying caps/goals The big story here is the inclusion of Jose Francisco Torres. Torres was born in Longview, Texas, but played for Pachuca and developed through their youth system. Both Mexico and the US were after Torres, but the 20-year-old, creative midfielder chose to play for his birth nation. Torres was one of four Mexican-Americans playing in Mexico who had the option to play for both nations around this age. San Luis' Michael Orozco and Tecos' Sammy Ochoa both chose the United States and Santos Laguna's Edgar Castillo chose to play with the Mexicans. The other big development with this roster are the omissions of Eddie Johnson and Eddie Lewis. With those guys out, its more likely that Jozy Altidore, Charlie Davies, Torres, Freddy Adu, and Danny Szetela will see time in these two matches. If I am managing the US, here are my formations for the two matches would be as follows: ----------------------------------------- ----------------Howard------------------ -Pearce-Onyewu--Bocanegra-Cherundolo- ---------------------------------------- ----------Bradley---Edu----------------- --Donovan-----Dempsey-----Beasley----- ---------------Altidore------------------- ----------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- ----------------Howard------------------ -Pearce-Onyewu--Bocanegra-Cherundolo- ------Bradley--Kljestan--Szetela--------- ---------------Torres-------------------- --------Adu-------------Davies---------- -----------------------------------------
Great to see him in the squad. Hopefully he sticks this time. He made his debut against South Africa, then played a half against Sweden and set up a penalty. In his third cap, he scored against Mexico and hasn't been back since. He's going to be our guy up top during the World Cup, so we might as well start that up now. Anyone know about Torres? I'm excited to see him playing.
http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2008/10/mexico-fails-in.html This story just gets better as Mexico tried to get him to reconsider, even after announcing his intentions to play for the US. Hopefully Bradley gives him his debut so that this won't be an issue in the future as he has yet to turn 21.
