I know it's early, but I was thinking about the roster for the 2010 World Cup.Barring injury, the guys in bold are locks. I don't want to list the whole player pool, just the guys with a legit chance to make the roster. No slow-footed 30+ year old wing players need apply.Who am I ommitting?GK (3 in 2006) Howard Hahnemann Guzan Defenders (8 in 2006): Cherundolo Bocanegra Onyewu Bornstein Spector Simek Conrad Parkhurst Demerit Wynne Califf Joy Robionson Moor Midfield (8 in 2006) Donovan Bradley Beasley Feilhaber Adu Edu Clark Convey Mapp Zizzo Davis Noonan Forward (4 in 2006) Altidore E. Johnson Dempsey Davies Twellman Ferrari J. Johnson
I think that Altidore will be starting at Forward and will be one of the faces of US soccer going into the 2010 WC. I like the energy/swagger he has on the field. Look for him to continue to grow and mature into a world class player.
I hope you're right - I like Altidore quite a bit. He's still got to prove he can play at the International level, but I think by 2010, he'll be our best forward.
Twellman and Noonan. It's too bad we can't trade a couple of midfielders to Brazil, Italy or Argentina for a striker. Actually, they probably don't need our midfielders. But, it would be nice to have a quality striker. If Altidore can live up to expectations, he may be our first, true international caliber striker. Too bad Adu couldn't grow another 6 inches. I like our midfield and goalies. Defense I'm somewhat ok with. Forwards...
It's got to be a scouting issue. I played with guys in high school that looked like better strikers than some I see on the national team. I think if you don't go to the Bradenton Academy or have a relative in high places, you don't get noticed.
If we don't give Adu a spot on the 2010 team, can he still go to Ghana? Or is he locked into playing for the US now?
Adu has appeared in some frienlies (at least 1) with the full team. He's cap tied, with very little wiggle room. I can't imagine that he won't be a part of the US squad in 2010, but hs'e not a lock quite yet.
Adu has to play in an "official" match: i.e. a world cup qualifier, world cup game, a confederation championship, or any other FIFA-sanctioned tourney (the only other being the Confed cup) match. Since Adu has yet to do any of those, he is still eligible to play for Ghana. So he will be officially tied to the US if he plays this summer in the first batch of qualifiers. I am curious if the Ghanan FF contacted him to see about playing in the Africa Cup of Nations tourney...which is taking place in Ghana.
Adu mentioned a long time ago about keeping his options open, but having made two appearances in friendlies since, as well as captaining the U-20 World Cup team this summer (and putting in a brilliant performance which eventually led to his transfer to Benfica this summer), Ghana hoping for Freddy to play for them is like American fans hoping Rossi will play for us. Ain't gonna happen. There's always a few players that come out of nowhere right before the World Cup that end up making the team. There's a kid named Jose Angulo who plays striker (just signed to New England) that is badass, and could end up on the 2010 team. Twellman and Noonan should not even be consideration for 2010. They are terrible at the international level.
