Few Oldies, So U.S. Sending Young Team : World Cup: Four Bruins make 22-man roster that will go to Italy, including 19-year-old Chris Henderson.

When U.S. Coach Bob Gansler named his 22-man roster Monday for soccer’s World Cup in Italy next month, he went with youth and inexperience. He had no choice. In a country that has not sent a team to the World Cup in 40 years, there are not many veterans in the talent pool.

But although the average age of the U.S. team is only 23, many of the players are as seasoned as possible under the circumstances. The nucleus of this team is the same as it was for the 1988 Summer Olympics and the World Cup’s 10-game regional qualification round that began in 1988 and ended with a 1-0 victory last November against Trinidad and Tobago.

Perhaps looking ahead to the 1994 World Cup, for which the United States--as the host country--is an automatic qualifier, Gansler has managed to blend some even younger and less experienced players onto the team.

The youngest is Chris Henderson, a UCLA midfielder from Everett, Wash. The Bruins are well-represented on this team with midfielder Paul Caligiuri, 26, of Santa Monica, defender Paul Krumpe, 27, of Redondo Beach, and goalkeeper David Vanole, 27, of Manhattan Beach, all veterans of the 1985 team that won the NCAA championship. But they must seem like the old alums with raccoon coats and pennants to Henderson. He is a freshman who will not turn 20 until December.

To become a member of the fraternity, he has been subjected to some hazing. When the team arrives at an airport, he has to call the hotel shuttle bus. He also has to go to the back of the line at the team’s buffet dinners.

But at least the other players know his name, which is more than he could say when he arrived at the first training camp of this year in January at La Jolla.

Combining speed and quickness, he was so impressive that Gansler soon was encouraging Henderson to withdraw from UCLA in the spring to concentrate on earning a place with the national team.

Not only has he done that, he may get significant playing time in Italy as the first offensive midfielder off the bench. He probably will back up Eric Wynalda, 21, of Westlake Village, another player who emerged from training camp. Henderson said Monday he will worry after he returns from Italy about making up the credits in summer school required to maintain his eligibility.

It has been a time of difficult decisions for his family. When his parents learned Henderson made the team, they had to decide whether to go to Italy to see him play or stay home for youngest son Sean’s high school graduation.

“If it was you, I wouldn’t stick around for your graduation,” Sean told his mother. Sean’s priorities no doubt were colored by the fact that he is a soccer player. He also will attend UCLA next year.

Two other players selected by Gansler are undergraduates. Goalkeeper Kasey Keller, 20, of the University of Portland, has been an obvious choice since training camp, when he became the backup to Tony Meola, 21, who left the University of Virginia after it became the NCAA co-champion this year. Neil Covone, 20, a midfielder from Wake Forest, was the last player selected, a beneficiary of Hugo Perez’s misfortune.

Perez, an El Salvador native who has lived in San Diego since he was 13, is the most skilled player on the U.S. team, but he has seldom been able to show it during the last two years because of injuries. He suffered a broken bone in his right leg in March while playing for Red Star 93, a French second-division team.

Although Perez has been working out, Gansler did not think the midfielder would be match fit in time for the World Cup.

Gansler did not say so, but it is likely that he also worried that the outspoken Perez would not be good for the team’s chemistry.

Chemistry was a factor in Gansler’s decision earlier this month to ask Vanole to return.

A starter in all three 1988 Summer Olympic games and six of 10 World Cup qualification games, Vanole seemed to be out of the team’s plans after failing to report to training camp in a contract dispute.

“David can serve us well in a number of ways,” Gansler said. “His ability in goal is one of them. His effect in the locker room is another. He’s . . . well liked by his teammates.”