You can call it Camp Cutdown.
The U.S. men’s national team’s pre-World Cup training camp later this month will not just help the team get in shape, but also help fringe players secure their places on the U.S. World Cup team.
With somewhere between 15 and 18 World Cup roster spots all but secured, there are still between five and eight tickets to South Africa that will be claimed on the practice fields of Princeton, New Jersey, as well as at friendlies in Connecticut and Philadelphia.
With 26 to 28 players expected to be brought into the camp, competition will be fierce and some dreams will be realized, while others will be shattered.
Will Edson Buddle and Herculez Gomez get invites? Will DaMarcus Beasley be brought in despite not playing at Rangers? Will Charlie Davies, Oguchi Onyewu and Stuart Holden be healthy and ready? These are just some of the questions we should get answers to in the coming days and weeks before the World Cup begins.
Bradley is a week away from submitting his preliminary 30-man World Cup roster, and most of those players (between 26-28) will be called in for the training camp. Here are the 30 players we see him inviting to the camp, which begins on May 16th.
GOALKEEPERS (4)
These World Cup rosters spots are secured and the only real mystery at this point is whether it will be Guzan or Hahnemann serving as Howard’s backup. Rimando looks like the safe bet to be called in if anything happened to one of the top three goalkeepers, but he is likely one of the preliminary roster players who doesn’t attend the camp.
DEFENDERS (9)
Oguchi Onyewu is back to full training with AC Milan, which should be enough to ensure he is in national team camp.
Heath Pearce will be competing for one of those final roster spots, and his form at right back for FC Dallas last weekend should help boost his chances. His speed and crossing ability remain viable strengths, but he’ll be the underdog if it comes down to a battle vs. Bornstein.
There aren’t many surprises in this group aside from veteran Frankie Hejduk, who will be given a chance to show whether he’s fit and sharp enough to be considered for the last defender spot on the roster. Bradley could also be tempted to bring in Hejduk for his leadership ability, but the veteran fullback will still need to show he can still compete at a high level after enduring a rough second half of 2009.
MIDFIELDERS (11)
Bob Bradley has a plethora of options in midfield, and the lack of reliable forward options makes it more and more likely Dempsey plays up top in South Africa.
The camp will be used to help separate the pack of central midfielders vying for spots. Clark, Edu, Torres and Feilhaber are battling for what may be just three roster spots. Bradley could wind up choosing to take one extra midfielder and one less defender to the World Cup, but if he doesn’t, one of the aforementioned quartet could be left home.
One name that might be a surprise to some is Freddy Adu, who has been starting in recent weeks for Greek club Aris. He might merit consideration, but he’s not a natural winger and could lose out to the numbers game in central midfield. That said, with Rogers failing to impress in MLS, and Beasley a question mark due to lack of playing, Bradley could be tempted to include him on the 30-man roster.
Robbie Rogers could also make the 30-man squad as an alternate in case one of the team’s natural wingers is injured, though it should be noted that his MLS form hasn’t been stellar lately.
FORWARDS (6)
The position that will garner the most interest is at forward, where Bradley will have to choose between the players he is familiar with and the forwards who have been playing very well in recent months.
Charlie Davies is the big wild card. He continues to make progress, but is still not a lock to be fit enough to be called in. If he makes the camp roster that likely rules out a speed forward like Robbie Findley or Eddie Johnson. Now, if Davies can’t go, that could open the door for a player like Johnson.
Brian Ching and Conor Casey have long been included in Bradley’s plans as target forward options, and they should both get training camp invites to continue their battle.
Then you have Edson Buddle and Herculez Gomez, two red-hot strikers who went from completely off the radar to on the radar. Both players should get invites because they’re both playing with supreme confidence.
Findley and Johnson are on the fringe and either could wind up getting the call if Davies can’t go, or if Bradley decides to pass on a player like Gomez.
Bradley will have some very tough decisions to make when picking his camp roster, which shows how much the U.S. national team talent pool has improved over the past decade. It also shows that several players will be left home who were considered good bets to make the trip to South Africa.
What the above list does is show us that even whittling down to a 30-man roster won’t be easy, which makes it that much more intriguing to think of what surprises might await on May 30, when the U.S. World Cup team departs for South Africa and Bradley’s World Cup team will be revealed to the world.
Ives Galarcep is FoxSoccer.com's newest senior writer who will be covering U.S. Soccer and MLS.
