Young US squad selected for Chile friendly

Published Dec. 21, 2010 7:50 p.m. ET

foxsports

Defenders A.J. DeLaGarza and Sean Franklin are among 12 players with no international experience selected for a U.S. national team training camp ahead of the Americans' friendly against Chile.

Six of the 24 players in the squad announced Tuesday for the Jan. 22 game in Carson, California, have played just one match for the national team, all in the second half of 2011. Alejandro Bedoya is the most senior player with six international appearances.

Others with no international experience include goalkeepers Dominic Cervi, Sean Johnson, Matt Pickens and Anthony Wallace; defender Zach Loyd, Ryan Miller; midfielders Eric Alexander and Jeff Larentowicz; and forward Justin Braun and forward Chris Wondolowski.

Among those with just one appearance are defenders Omar Gonzalez and Tim Ream, midfielders Brek Shea and Mikkel Diskerud, and forwards Juan Agudelo and Teal Bunbury.

Midfielder Bobby Convey, a member of the 2006 U.S. World Cup squad who revived his career in 2010, was among the veterans not picked.

Twenty of the players are from Major League Soccer and three from Scandinavian teams on winter break. Players are scheduled to report to the Home Depot Center on Jan. 4. The average age is just over 23, and veterans will be mixed in later in the spring as the U.S. prepares for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The U.S. is likely to host Argentina on March 26 at a site still being negotiation and probably will play another match three days later.

''We have some younger players that we think, with time, can grow into important roles with our national team,'' U.S. coach Bob Bradley said. ''We also understand going forward that it's an opportunity to at least begin the process of looking at some under-23 players, players that will be able to play for our Olympic team in qualifying. We really tried to focus on players that have not been in January camps so that we could see what some of these new faces are all about and get to see them in this situation.''

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The squad:

Goalkeepers: Dominic Cervi (Celtic), Sean Johnson (Chicago), Matt Pickens (Colorado), Nick Rimando (Salt Lake)

Defenders: A.J. DeLaGarza (Los Angeles), Sean Franklin (Los Angeles), Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles), Ugo Ihemelu (Dallas), Zach Loyd (Dallas), Ryan Miller (Halmstads), Tim Ream (New York), Anthony Wallace (Colorado), Marvell Wynne (Colorado)

Midfielders: Eric Alexander (Dallas), Alejandro Bedoya (Orebro), Sam Cronin (San Jose), Mikkel Diskerud (Stabaek), Jeff Larentowicz (Colorado), Dax McCarty (D.C.), Brek Shea (Dallas)

Forwards: Juan Agudelo (New York), Justin Braun (Chivas USA), Teal Bunbury (Kansas City), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose)