20 lucky folk were selected for World Cup qualifying beatdowns of Cuba and Trinidad and Tobago.

Enjoy:

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan, Tim Howard.

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra, Danny Califf, Steve Cherundolo, Frankie Hejduk, Oguchi Onyewu, Michael Orozco, Heath Pearce, Marvell Wynne.

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United States Men's National Team head coach Bob Bradley has unveiled the 20-man roster he has called upon to lead into battle in a pair of upcoming World Cup Qualifiers. Among them are seven players from Major League Soccer, as well as two others who recently completed moves overseas.

The United States will take on Cuba on September 6th in Havana and then host Trinidad & Tobago four days later from Toyota Park in Chicago. Click to continue reading...

U.S. men's national team coach Bob Bradley has named his 20-man roster for the upcoming games against Cuba and Trinidad & Tobago.

Here it is:

• GOALKEEPERS : Brad Guzan (Aston Villa: 2/2 SO), Tim Howard (Everton FC: 4/3 SO)
• DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes: 14/2), Danny Califf (FC Midtjylland: 2/0), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96: 16/0), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew: 12/1), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege: 9/0), Michael Orozco (San Luis: 0/0), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock: 3/0), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC: 0/0)
• MIDFIELDERS: DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers: 17/4), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen: 3/1), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo: 1/0), Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers: 2/0), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA: 1/0), Eddie Lewis (Los Angeles Galaxy: 20/3)
• FORWARDS: Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo: 8/4), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy: 22/8), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC: 9/2), Eddie Johnson (Cardiff City: 8/8)

*numbers indicate all-time World Cup Qualifying caps/goals

Michael Orozco and Marvell Wynne are the new faces, earning call-ups after their performances at the Olympics while Ricardo Clark replaces injured central midfielder Pablo Mastroeni.

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U.S. Coach Bob Bradley has just announced a 20-man roster for the pair of upcoming World Cup Qualifying games against Cuba Sept. 6 in Havana and Trinidad & Tobago on Sept. 10 in Chicago.

There are just two changes and two additions to the squad Bradley selected for the recent qualifier in Guatemala.

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Sir Bob has released his 20-man roster for next week's World Cup qualifier in Cuba (Sept. 6) and for the home match in Bridgeview, Ill., against Trinidad and Tobago (Sept. 10). GOALKEEPERS: Tim Howard, Brad Guzan. DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra, Oguchi Onyewu, Heath Pearce, Frankie Hejduk, Danny Califf, Steve Cherundolo*, Michael Orozco, Marvell Wynne. Click to continue reading...

GOALKEEPERS: Tim Howard, Brad Guzan. DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra, Oguchi Onyewu, Heath Pearce, Frankie Hejduk, Danny Califf, Steve Cherundolo, Michael Orozco, Marvell Wynne. MIDFIELDERS: DaMarcus Beasley, Michael Bradley, Ricardo Clark, Maurice Edu, Eddie Lewis, Sacha Kljestan. FORWARDS: Brian Ching, Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Eddie Johnson. Click to continue reading...

Photo by ISIphotos.com

With three points in the bag after last week's 1-0 road win against Guatemala, the U.S. men's national team heads into the next set of World Cup qualifiers knowing that two wins could all but lock up advancement into the Hexagonal round.

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Here is Jack Bell's article from the New York Times that reviews each player's performance in the game with a rating scale of 1-10, which is commonly done in soccer. To begin, I believe that Jack's ratings vary a bit too much. Its usually pretty rare that players on the same team get a score of 3 and also 8. Click to continue reading...

It's a cliche that there are no style points in World Cup qualifying. Just results. The US embodied that cliche last night in a 1-0 victory in Guatemala City in a match that announcer Glenn Davis correctly called a "street fight."

The US did a few things right, plenty wrong, and a few not so well in taking three away points to start the semifinal round of WC 2010 CONCACAF qualifying. Click to continue reading...

Apologies for the late blogging since I am somewhat under the weather today (and, no, that's not because of all the soccer on TV).

Still, there is a lot.

First up at noon on Fox Soccer Channel is David Beckham and England taking on the Czech Republic in London.

Then at 7 p.

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United States Men's National Team coach Bob Bradley has unveiled his 18-man roster for the upcoming World Cup qualifying group game against Guatemala, which will take place in Guatemala City this coming Wednesday, August 20th. The game can be seen on ESPN2 and Galavision starting at 10 p.m. ET.
Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton FC)

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock)

Midfielders: Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Eddie Lewis (Derby County), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers)

Forwards: Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Eddie Johnson (Fulham FC) Click to continue reading...

Everyone out there is upset that Kenny Cooper wasn't called up. Considering he's scored like 82 goals a game for FC Dallas this season, I'm upset too.

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa, England), Tim Howard (Everton, England).

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes, France), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover, Germany), Jay DeMerit (Watford, England), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Liege, Belgium), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock, Germany)

Midfielders: Michael Bradley (Heerenveen, Netherlands), Maurice Edu (Toronto), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Eddie Lewis (Derby County, England), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado)

Forwards: Brian Ching (Houston), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles), Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England), Eddie Johnson (Fulham, England)

Young midfielders rule. Click to continue reading...

Interestingly no Freddy Adu called into this squad even though four other returning Olympians from the US side are called into the squad. The numbers are caps and goal in World Cup qualifying.

GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa: 2/2 SO), Tim Howard (Everton FC: 3/2 SO)
DEFENDERS (6): Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes: 13/1), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96: 15/0), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC: 1/0), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew: 11/1), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege: 8/0), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock: 2/0)
MIDFIELDERS (5): Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen: 2/1), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC: 1/0), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA: 1/0), Eddie Lewis (Derby County: 19/3), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids: 10/0)
FORWARDS (4): Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo: 7/4), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy: 21/8), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC: 8/2), Eddie Johnson (Fulham FC: 8/8)

What are everyone's thoughts about this squad?

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Bob Bradley named the squad that is going to face Guatemala in the upcoming World Cup qualifier and while looking through the roster the question that comes to my mind is - don't we have a better team then this? Hasn't the time for Eddie Lewis, Frankie Hejduk, and Pablo Mastroeni come and gone? Who is being looked to as the main goalscorer - Landon Donovan? Click to continue reading...

Once again, old man river has been called up.  Yes, we're still thin at right back, but after Marvell Wynne's recent Olympic showing, he seems the obvious choice for this position (behind Steve Cherundolo, of course).  I don't care if Frankie has the greatest intangible qualities (i.e. heart, leadership, blah blah blah) in the world they simply don't [. Click to continue reading...

GOALKEEPERS: Tim Howard (Everton FC), Brad Guzan (Aston Villa) DEFENDERS: Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock) MIDFIELDERS: Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Eddie Lewis (Derby County), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids), DaMarcus Beasley [. Click to continue reading...

The Galaxy's Landon Donovan will lead the U.S. against Guatemala.
Photo by Scott Varley.

Galaxy hotshot Edson Buddle - 12 goals in 15 starts this season - was overlooked yet again by U.S. Men's National Team Coach Bob Bradley today when he announced the squad for Wednesday's World Cup qualifier against Guatemala in Central America.

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Here it is. Initially, don't see any big surprises. Of the Olympians, Bob Bradley chose to bring four along - Brad Guzan, Maurice Edu, Sacha Kljestan and Michael Bradley.

Also, it's not a surprise but still disappointed to see Brian Ching selected over Kenny Cooper. Knowing Bradley, he'd probably like to get Cooper in a friendly or two before calling him for a qualifier so I suppose that's why I'm not surprised. Click to continue reading...

Obviously, US men's national team coach Bob Bradley is not a frequent reader of this publication. If said 'gaffer' did was would well know that calling in Kenny Cooper to his squad for the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers was of paramount importance and that his persistent insistence on leaving the streaking striker out of the selection was tantamount to treason. Click to continue reading...

Once again, the Colorado Rapids outshot their opposition but there is only one statistic that matters in soccer and that is how many goals you score and how many goals you let in, well two statistics then. Everton scored twice, once at the beginning of the game and once right at the end. Click to continue reading...

Fulham Football Club gives us a video highlight reel of #8 Brian McBride's years on the team. Set to the tune of the Foo Fighters My Hero. (Thanks to BQ for this one).

~and~

Brad Guzan received his work permit today and can now officially join Aston Villa. Huge congrats go out to El Guzano. Click to continue reading...

Part III: The Post-1998 World Cup Breakout

By now, most of the trailblazers had returned home to play in Major League Soccer (MLS); Caligiuri to Los Angeles, Wynalda to San Jose, Harkes to DC United, and Lalas to New England. Nonetheless, the number of American players in Europe exploded to unprecedented numbers with over 20 playing in Germany alone – a combination of established professionals, young players, and journeymen. Click to continue reading...

U.S. Soccer put out a press release a couple of minutes ago naming Dax McCarty (FC Dallas) as an injury replacement for Nathan Sturgis (Real Salt Lake) on the U.S. Olympic team roster. With McCarty moving to the full roster, our starting left back Michael Harrington has been added to the three-person alternate list. Click to continue reading...

Guillermo Barros Schelotto won't be in the MLS All-Star game later this week and last Thursday he provided a strong case for being the worst snub in the league. The Argentine star dazzled the crowd at Crew Stadium, helping Columbus fight back from 2-0 down to take a 3-2 lead against the Wizards.

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I didn't write the headline to my article about the Olympic roster.

Not that I object to it per se, but I do find it a bit of a paradox, because one of my main points in the article was that the U.S. didn't send the strongest team they could have to the Olympics. Obviously, World Cup qualifying was an issue that conflicted, as did the demands of club teams, especially when it came to one Landon Donovan. Click to continue reading...