Some U.S. Cup Surprises
There were not supposed to be any surprises. Disappointments, certainly, but not surprises.
Bruce Arena, coach of the U.S. national soccer team, delivered both, though, on Tuesday afternoon when he selected the 23 players he will take to Germany next month for soccer’s World Cup.
The surprises came in the shape of Kansas City Wizard defender Jimmy Conrad, D.C. United midfielder Ben Olsen and Houston Dynamo forward Brian Ching making the team.
The disappointments came in the exclusion of Galaxy defender Chris Albright and New England Revolution forward Taylor Twellman.
Whom to include and whom to leave out was a problem Arena had wrestled with for months.
“By April 12, I had clearly established 18,” he said.
“Shortly after that I got it to 19. I used the last couple of weeks to finalize the last four, and yesterday to reflect on that a little bit.”
Over the course of 59 games played since a 1-0 loss to Germany in the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup, Arena had called upon 85 players, including 46 during qualifying play for 2006.
There was never any serious debate about his choice of goalkeepers. Kasey Keller, who with midfielder Claudio Reyna will become the first Americans to take part in four World Cups, is the clear No. 1 and will start.
Marcus Hahnemann, who this season helped Reading win promotion to the English Premier League, will be his backup. Tim Howard is along for the ride so that he can learn the ropes with an eye on being the starter at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Hahnemann and Howard are among 11 players named for the first time to a World Cup team.
“Those three stood apart from everybody else,” Arena said.
On defense, Arena selected Carlos Bocanegra, Steve Cherundolo, Conrad, Cory Gibbs, Frankie Hejduk, Eddie Lewis, Oguchi Onyewu and Eddie Pope.
Albright, one of 13 players named as alternates, could justifiably have been included on the team, Arena said.
“Chris Albright, I think anyone can argue, deserves to be on this roster,” he said. “Chris could have fit in the group, but the eight we decided on gives us the right kind of balance we need in the back in case of injuries.”
In the midfield, Arena’s choices were DaMarcus Beasley, Bobby Convey, Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Pablo Mastroeni, John O’Brien, Olsen and Reyna.
O’Brien is a gamble. Arena called him “a little bit of a question mark.” The Chivas USA midfielder is coming off injuries, has not played 90 minutes in a competitive match in some time and has to prove to Arena in the next few weeks that he can regain full fitness by the time the team leaves for Germany on June 1.
Otherwise, someone else goes in his place.
As for forwards, Arena named only four: Ching, Eddie Johnson, Brian McBride and Josh Wolff.
Twellman, the top or joint-top goal scorer in Major League Soccer in each of the last two seasons, had been considered ahead of Ching in the pecking order.
This is the fifth successive time the U.S. has qualified for the World Cup and Conrad’s inclusion, along with that of Bocanegra, Hejduk and Lewis, makes it the fifth successive time there have been four former UCLA players on the squad.
“I still don’t really know how to respond to this moment,” Conrad said of his selection. “I’m still kind of in shock.”
Arena said he believes the 2006 team is stronger than the 2002 squad.
“With a good training camp, good preparation games and the right mental approach, our team will be a team that’s going to challenge anybody on the field in this World Cup,” he said.
The U.S. opens against the Czech Republic on June 12.
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The U.S. at Germany ’06
The U.S. roster for this summer’s World Cup, as announced Tuesday by Bruce Arena, the U.S. national soccer team coach (with international caps and goals scored):
*--* Player Hgt. Wgt. Age Club C/G GOALKEEPERS Marcus Hahnemann 6-3 220 34 Reading (England) 6/0 Tim Howard 6-3 210 27 Manchester United 15/0 (England) Kasey Keller 6-2 190 36 Borussia Moenchengladbach 91/0 (Germany) DEFENDERS Carlos Bocanegra 6-0 170 26 Fulham (England) 39/6 Steve Cherundolo 5-6 145 27 Hannover 96 (Germany) 33/1 Jimmy Conrad 6-2 185 29’ Kansas City Wizards 13/0 Cory Gibbs 6-3 178 26 ADO Den Haag (Holland) 18/0 Frankie Hejduk 5-8 155 29 Columbus Crew 72/5 Eddie Lewis 5-10 155 31 Leeds United (England) 68/8 Oguchi Onyewu 6-4 210 23 Standard Liege (Belgium) 12/1 Eddie Pope 6-1 180 32 Real Salt Lake 78/8 MIDFIELDERS DaMarcus Beasley 5-8 145 23 PSV Eindhoven (Holland) 55/12 Bobby Convey 5-8 150 22 Reading (England) 36/1 Clint Dempsey 6-1 170 23 New England Revolution 19/4 Landon Donovan 5-8 148 24 Galaxy 78/25 Pablo Mastroeni 5-10 170 29 Colorado Rapids 46/0 John O’Brien 5-9 150 28 Chivas USA 29/3 Ben Olsen 5-8 140 29 D.C. United 36/6 Claudio Reyna 5-9 160 32 Manchester City (England) 108/8 FORWARDS Brian Ching 6-1 195 27 Houston Dynamo 17/3 Eddie Johnson 6-0 180 22 Kansas City Wizards 15/9 Brian McBride 6-1 170 33 Fulham (England) 90/29 Josh Wolff 5-8 160 29 Kansas City Wizards 45/9
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