Forward Juan Agudelo, defender Alfredo Morales and midfielders Danny Williams and Graham Zusi were cut Friday as U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann picked his 23-man roster for upcoming exhibition games and World Cup qualifiers.
The moves leave the U.S. with seven defenders, seven midfielders and six forwards for their five matches.
''We have chosen the 23 players who are in the best form right now and ready to get the job done,'' Klinsmann said. ''These guys have put in a tremendous amount of hard work in the last 10 days, and they are hungry to get started with the matches.''
Corona is the only player on the roster for the first time. He scored four goals in qualifying as the U.S. under-23 team failed to make the London Olympics.
Five players are from Major League Soccer. Four each are based in Germany and Mexico, three in England, two each in Scotland and Denmark, one apiece in Italy, the Netherlands and Portugal.
The Americans have exhibitions against Scotland on Saturday at Jacksonville, Fla., Brazil on Wednesday at Landover, Md., and Canada on June 3 at Toronto. Seeking their seventh straight World Cup berth, the Americans open qualifying on June 8 against Antigua and Barbuda at Tampa, Fla., then play at Guatemala on June 12.
The roster:
Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa, England), Tim Howard (Everton, England), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake);
Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Geoff Cameron (Houston), Edgar Castillo (Tijuana, Mexico), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover, Germany), Clarence Goodson (Brondby, Denmark), Oguchi Onyewu (Sporting Lisbon, Portugal), Michael Parkhurst (Nordsjaelland, Denmark)
Midfielders: Kyle Beckerman (Salt Lake), Michael Bradley (Chievo Verona, Italy), Joe Corona (Tijuana, Mexico), Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim, Germany), Jermaine Jones (Schalke, Germany), Jose Torres (Pachuca, Mexico),
Forwards: Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar, Netherlands), Terrence Boyd (Borussia Dortmund, Germany), Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles), Herculez Gomez (Santos Laguna, Mexico), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose)
