Jurgen Klinsmann has called up 26 players for training camp prior to the USMNT's upcoming matches in May and June. The list as a whole isn't hugely surprising overall. Plenty of the faces brought in are guys we saw in the last round of WCQ matches. There are, however, a couple interesting choices that I'll get to in a minute. But first, here are the actual players called up:
GOALKEEPERS (6) : Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tally Hall (Houston Dynamo), Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Tim Howard (Everton), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
DEFENDERS (8) : DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Edgar Castillo (Club Tijuana), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Clarence Goodson (Brondby), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim), Michael Parkhurst (Augsburg)
MIDFIELDERS (10) : Michael Bradley (Roma), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Maurice Edu (Bursaspor), Stuart Holden (Bolton), Jermaine Jones (Schalke), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht), Brek Shea (Stoke City), Danny Williams (Hoffenheim), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
FORWARDS (5) : Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar), Terrence Boyd (Rapid Vienna), Clint Dempsey (Tottenham Hotspur), Herculez Gomez (Santos), Eddie Johnson (Seattle Sounders FC)
The big question right now is who does Klinsmann go with for his front runner: Brad Guzan or Tim Howard? Howard arguably has the experience, but Guzan had an incredible couple games in the last two World Cup Qualifying matches. Tough choice.
Two odd choices, in my opinion, are Stuart Holden and Brek Shea. The former has been injured until very recently and received no playing time with Bolton this past season and very little with his loanee club Sheffield Wednesday. Shea, for his part, has also been relatively quiet at Stoke. The head coach there says he has an eye to use Shea for next season, but that doesn't help the World Cup squad out today.
You'll also recognize that Landon Donovan was not called up. No big surprise there as the MLS standout midfielder has not been nearly as sharp as he was in previous years due to his sabbatical. My guess is that he'll get called up for the Gold Cup.
Everything else looks pretty standard to me. Should be a fun group!
What do you think of this USMNT training group? Who makes the cut for the actual games? Who doesn't?