Here's Bob Bradley's 22-man roster for Saturday's match at Slovakia (from SBI): GOALKEEPERS- Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton), Troy Perkins (Valerenga) DEFENDERS- Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham) MIDFIELDERS- Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Dax McCarty (FC Dallas), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew) FORWARDS- Jozy Altidore (Hull City), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Jeff Cunningham (FC Dallas), Eddie Johnson (Fulham) Had to wait a bit for this roster to see what happened in the MLS playoffs. The team obviously took a big hit when Houston and the Galaxy made it through to the next round. Ricardo Clark, Stuart Holden, and Brian Ching will stay with Houston, while Landon Donovan is with the Galaxy. On the other hand, Sacha Kljestan will get a chance to re-enter the picture at central midfield, Chad Marshall can cement himself as the third/fourth choice centerback, and Robbie Rogers gets a chance on the left. Surprising moves are the call-ups for Jeff Cunningham and Eddie Johnson. Cunningham has 10 caps, but hasn't been called in since 2006. Cunningham won the MLS Golden Boot after scoring 7 goals in five matches in September, after Kenny Cooper departed for Germany. Johnson fell out of favor with Bradley and Fulham, but has recently found some time on the bench with Fulham and has been playing well with the reserves. The key thing to find out in this match (and the one next Wednesday at Denmark) is who will work with Altidore up top with Davies out of action. It could be a speedy striker (Johnson, Cunningham) or could it be Dempsey? Robbie Rogers has a huge opportunity as Landon Donovan is a candidate to move up next to Altidore and could get a bit of a push if he plays well on the left.
Just for the record, USSoccer's press release quotes Bob Bradley as saying that additionally call-ups will be made after this friendly. The MLS guys listed above as well as players from Real Salt Lake (Kyle Beckerman, Robbie Findley) and Chicago Fire (Logan Pause, Jon Busch) could join the 22 listed above. Saturday is also a big day in Mexico, which led to the exclusion of Jose Francisco Torres, Egardo Castillo, and Michael Orozco. I'm hoping for this 4-4-2 to start against Slovakia: GK - Guzan D - Spector - Bocanegra - Marshall - Bornstein M - Rogers - Bradley - Feilhaber - Dempsey F - Altidore - Cunningham I wouldn't mind seeing Johnson getting a shot off the bench as well.
I didn't get to see the match, but it sounds like a relatively uninspiring 1-0 loss. Hamsik scored on a penalty in the first half. From what I have read, highlights were Spector's performance in the middle, where he was forced into action due to injuries to Onyewu, DeMerit, and Marshall. Michael Bradley played well. Brad Guzan was very solid, as usual, in goal. Eddie Johnson showed some signs of life, which is good to hear as Altidore needs a speed guy to play with in my opinion. Lowlights were Jonathan Bornstein, as usual, and a lack of bite in the attack.
