U.S. team is set after long night
The waiting was the worst part. To the players on the U.S. national soccer team, it seemed to drag on all night, and in fact it was not until nearly 3 a.m. Wednesday when the roster news finally arrived.
It was both good and bad.
For 23 of the players, the word that they will be going to the World Cup in South Africa came in a phone call, a text message or a chance meeting with a coach.
For seven unhappy others, the word was that they had been cut.
Midfielder Jose “Paco” Torres’ night was typical.
“I was real nervous, you know,” he said. “I was in my room. It was tough. A lot of things go through your mind. I was sitting on my bed just thinking. I had a lot of nerves. I could feel it inside, just shaking, you know.
“When I found out the good news, I couldn’t believe it. I was still shaking. I’m going to my first World Cup.”
The U.S. lost a warmup match, 4-2, to the Czech Republic in East Hartford on Tuesday night, and then the wait began.
“After we got back from the game, we were all in the hotel and the coaches were all talking amongst each other and making decisions,” said defender Jonathan Bornstein, who made the 23-man squad.
“It was just a matter of waiting until we got the calls in our rooms, and then around 2 or 2:30, something like that, they came. It was late, but it was well worth it. It was kind of hard to sleep, anyway.”
For U.S. Coach Bob Bradley and his assistants, telling players who had worked for years to reach the World Cup that they will be left behind when the team flies to South Africa on Sunday was emotionally exhausting.
“It’s always hard whenever you make these types of decisions,” Bradley said, “but it’s particularly difficult when it’s a player who has contributed so much to the national team over the years.”
Bradley was referring to 2006 World Cup veteran Brian Ching, who was cut along with fellow 2006 forward Eddie Johnson, as well as defenders Heath Pearce and Chad Marshall and midfielders Sacha Kljestan, Alejandro Bedoya and Robbie Rogers.
“Any way you look at it, there’s going to be guys disappointed and there’s going to be tough calls,” said Landon Donovan, who will be going to his third World Cup.
“I’m sad for the guys who don’t make it, because when you spend time with them over the years and then you see someone’s dream get crushed, it’s disappointing. But I’m really excited for the guys who have earned it.”
That includes Herculez Gomez, the one-time Galaxy player who left Major League Soccer to play for Puebla in Mexico and recently signed with one of the country’s leading teams, Pachuca, with whom Torres plays.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling, a dream I’ve had since I first touched a soccer ball and since I first knew what the World Cup was,” Gomez said.
“In my career I’ve been blessed to kind of not come from much and to do more than people thought I was capable of, so it’s definitely something special.”
It is special, too, for Galaxy forward Edson Buddle. Until he played 45 minutes Tuesday night, his international career totaled 11 minutes, and that was in 2003. But Buddle went on an MLS scoring streak at exactly the right time and with barely a thought about the World Cup
“The main thing was trying to keep my job in Los Angeles,” Buddle said. “It was the motivation of not having a good season last year for the Galaxy because of injuries. I didn’t want that [missed penalty kick in the 2009 MLS Cup final] to be the last thing Galaxy fans saw of me.”
If Bradley’s team has a touch of romance about it, particularly in the stories of Gomez and Buddle, then Stuart Holden’s tale of dreams dreamt is more typical.
“I remember watching the last World Cup on the couch in my first year as a professional with the [Houston] Dynamo and thinking, ‘What would it take for me to be out there?’ ” Holden said. “At the time, it seemed a bit of a stretch.”
Not anymore. The long wait is over.
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Heading to South Africa
The U.S. World Cup team, coached by Bob Bradley:
*--* PLAYER POS AGE CLUB (COUNTRY) Jozy Altidore F 20 Villarreal (Spain) DaMarcus Beasley M 28 Rangers (Scotland) Carlos Bocanegra D 31 Rennes (France) Jonathan Bornstein D 25 Chivas USA (MLS) Michael Bradley M 22 Borussia Moenchengladbach (Ger.) Edson Buddle F 29 Galaxy (MLS) Steve Cherundolo D 31 Hannover 96 (Germany) Ricardo Clark M 27 Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany) Jay DeMerit D 30 Watford (England) Clint Dempsey M 27 Fulham (England) Landon Donovan M 28 Galaxy (MLS) Maurice Edu M 24 Rangers (Scotland) Benny Feilhaber M 25 AGF Aarhus (Denmark) Robbie Findley F 24 Real Salt Lake (MLS) Herculez Gomez F 28 Puebla (Mexico) Clarence Goodson D 28 IK Start (Norway) Brad Guzan G 25 Aston Villa (England) Marcus Hahnemann G 37 Wolverhampton Wanderers (Eng.) Stuart Holden M 24 Bolton Wanderers (England) Tim Howard G 31 Everton (England) Oguchi Onyewu D 28 AC Milan (Italy) Jonathan Spector D 24 West Ham United (England) Jose Torres M 22 Pachuca (Mexico) *--*
