Arena Announces Gold Cup Roster

[Parmigiano]

Armas, Chris M 5'7" 150 08/27/72 50/2 Brentwood, N.Y. Chicago Fire (MLS)

Beasley, DaMarcus F 5'7" 126 05/24/82 24/4 Ft. Wayne, Ind. Chicago Fire (MLS)

Bocanegra, Carlos D 6'0" 170 05/25/79 15/2 Alto Loma, Calif. Chicago Fire (MLS)

Brown, Adin GK 6'4" 200 05/27/78 0/0 Pleasant Hill, Calif. New England Revolution (MLS)

Brown, C.J. D 6'0" 185 06/15/75 15/0 Hayward, Calif. Chicago Fire (MLS)

Califf, Dan D 6'1" 175 03/17/80 8/0 Orange, Calif. Los Angeles Galaxy (MLS)

Convey, Bobby M 5'8" 150 05/27/83 13/0 Philadelphia, Pa. D.C. United (MLS)

Donovan, Landon F 5'8" 148 03/04/82 38/9 Redlands, Calif. San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)

Garcia, Nick D 5'10" 160 04/09/79 4/0 Plano, Texas Kansas City Wizards (MLS)

Gibbs, Cory D 6'3" 178 01/14/80 3/0 Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. FC St. Pauli (Germany)

Hejduk, Frankie D/M 5'8" 155 08/05/74 47/5 Cardiff, Calif. Columbus Crew (MLS)

Howard, Tim GK 6'3" 210 03/06/79 9/0 North Brunswick, N.J. MetroStars (MLS)

Keller, Kasey GK 6'2" 190 11/29/69 61/0 Lacey, Wash. Tottenham Hotspur (England)

Klein, Chris M 6'1" 180 01/04/76 14/3 St. Louis, Mo. Kansas City Wizards (MLS)

Lewis, Eddie M 5'10" 155 05/17/74 48/4 Cerritos, Calif. Preston North End (England)

Mastroeni, Pablo D/M 5'10" 170 08/26/76 20/0 Phoenix, Ariz. Colorado Rapids (MLS)

Mathis, Clint M/F 5'10" 170 11/25/76 33/11 Conyers, Ga. MetroStars (MLS)

McBride, Brian F 6'1" 170 06/19/72 67/20 Arlington Heights, Ill. Columbus Crew (MLS)

Mulrooney, Richard M/D 5'9" 160 11/03/76 7/0 Memphis, Tenn. San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)

Ralston, Steve M 5’9” 160 06/14/74 10/1 St. Louis, Mo. New England Revolution (MLS)

Reyna, Claudio M 5'9" 160 07/20/73 92/8 Springfield, N.J. Sunderland (England)

Stewart, Earnie M/F 5'9" 145 03/28/69 91/15 Point Arena, Calif. D.C. United (MLS)

Twellman, Taylor F 5'11" 170 02/29/80 6/0 St. Louis, Mo. New England Revolution (MLS)

Vanney, Greg D 5'11" 169 06/11/74 21/0 Tempe, Ariz. F.C. Bastia (France)

Wolff, Josh F 5'8" 160 02/25/77 20/6 Stone Mountain, Ga. Kansas City Wizards (MLS)

[dcc134]

Whats the over under on Revs fans bitching because they had 3 players called, none of whom are going to get more than 5 minutes a game.

[Stogey23]

Did he really have to take CJ Brown? If Bruce is going to take a second defender from the Fire, Jim Curtin really deserved a callup.

[jeff_adams]

It's weird that Cannon is called into the Paraguay friendly, but left off of the Gold Cup roster.

[BakedAlaskan]

No Kirovski

[Nutmeg]

Release from ussoccer.com (http://www.ussoccer.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=38423)

[dcc134]

Originally posted by jeff_adams
It's weird that Cannon is called into the Paraguay friendly, but left off of the Gold Cup roster.

Its surprising that Howard was called in. I wonder if SAF is going to be placing any phone calls.

[Rocket]

Originally posted by BakedAlaskan
No Kirovski
Not to mention no Berhalter.

Hopefully these omissions are permanent.

[IamtheShark]

Are all 25 players gone from their clubs? How many are alternates? Can Arena mix and match once the tournament begins?

[QuakeAttack]

Originally posted by Stogey23
Did he really have to take CJ Brown? If Bruce is going to take a second defender from the Fire, Jim Curtin really deserved a callup.

I agree. We know CJs capabilities at the International level. Let's see Jim's...

[Nutmeg]

I've listed all of the Gold Cup roster in the various positions that they've played for with Arena that I could remember. Obviously, Arena wants to see versatility out of his players. With few exceptions, like McBride, Wolff, Twellman, Armas, and Ralston, each of these players can and have played in more than one spot on the field for the USMNT.

Potential Forwards
Brian McBride
Landon Donovan
Clint Mathis
Josh Wolff
Taylor Twellman

Potential Attacking Midfielders
Claudio Reyna
Bobby Convey
Landon Donovan
Clint Mathis
Earnie Stewart

Potential Defensive Midfielders
Claudio Reyna
Pablo Mastroeni
Chris Armas
Bobby Convey
Richard Mulrooney

Potential Left Midfielders
DaMarcus Beasley
Eddie Lewis
Bobby Convey
Earnie Stewart

Potential Right Midfielders
Chris Klein
Claudio Reyna
Earnie Stewart
DaMarcus Beasley
Bobby Convey
Frankie Hejduk
Landon Donovan
Steve Ralston

Potential Left Backs
Carlos Bocanegra
Bobby Convey
Greg Vanney
Cory Gibbs
Eddie Lewis

Potential Right Backs
Frankie Hejduk
Richard Mulrooney
Nick Garcia
CJ Brown
Pablo Mastroeni

Potential Central Defenders
Carlos Bocanegra
Dan Califf
Nick Garcia
Cory Gibbs
Greg Vanney
Pablo Mastroeni
CJ Brown

[Martin Fischer]

CONCACAF rules are that only 18 players will be on the final roster and 7 players will be alternates. Once the roster is finalized, the seven alternates can only be added for reason of injury or other serious reason.

http://www.concacaf.com/statutes/goldcup_frameset.php

As for the roster, I have only a few comments. BA must really not be happy with his right midfield play to bring back Ralston again. Maybe Klein will get a look at right back, which might be more consistent with his skill set.

Maybe Razov is a cancer in the locker room as I thought he would at least make it as an alternate.

Finally, the best central defender pairing here would be Mastroeni/Boca. Mastro was quite adequate in last year's Gold Cup there.

[monop_poly]

The Fire playing without four of its best defensive players is scary.

Why does BA need to take CJ off the Fire back line?

This thread is about the Chicago Fire ... right?

;)

[Thomas Flannigan]

If Razov is a cancer in the locker room he would not have made the alternate list for the World Cup. perhaps he shot his mouth off after that but other players have done that and still get call ups.
This seems to be a defensive roster. Don't plan on the U.S. scoring many goals.

[lurking]

Locks for the 18:
GK(2)
Howard, Tim
Keller, Kasey
D(5)
Bocanegra, Carlos
Hejduk, Frankie
Califf, Dan
Gibbs, Cory
Vanney, Greg
M(4)
Beasley, DaMarcus
Convey, Bobby
Mastroeni, Pablo
Lewis, Eddie
F(3)
Donovan, Landon
McBride, Brian
Mathis, Clint

Likely candidates:
GK(0)
D(0)
M(5)
Armas, Chris
Reyna, Claudio*
Klein, Chris
Mulrooney, Richard
Stewart, Earnie
F(1)
Twellman, Taylor

Longshots:
GK(1)
Brown, Adin
D(2)
Brown, C.J.
Garcia, Nick
M(1)
Ralston, Steve
F(1)
Wolff, Josh

* only reason he is hear is due to health


So really I think in all likelyhood 2 of the 6 in that likely candidate group will be dropped. If healthy, Reyna is in, if not hes dropped. If hes healthy based on previous selections by Bruce he will take Armas (though this isnt a sure thing) and drop Mulrooney. If hes not I bet he will take both Armas and Mulrooney. Meaning he will drop one of Klein, Twellman and Stewart (my guess is Klein).

[Roehl Sybing]

Another set of matches in which Adin Brown will still not receive his first cap.

[Nutmeg]

Thomas, I generally enjoy reading your point of view, but I disagree with your sentiments here. For example, this is not a defensive lineup:

-----------------Keller-----------------

Hejduk---Mastroeni---Boca---Convey

DMB---Mulrooney---Reyna---Lewis

----------Donovan---McBride----------

Nor is this:

-----------------Keller-----------------

------Califf---Boca---Gibbs------

Klein---Mastroeni---Convey---DMB

-----------------Donovan-----------------

----------Mathis---McBride----------

I believe Arena is looking for flexibility. Because the final roster will be 18 players, Arena needs guys who can play in more than one position.

[Alex_1]

Note - playing alongside Brian McBride might be a good thing for a player like Taylor Twellman right now - however it could also be his swan song for a little while if he isn't a productive threat. McBride's experience and success will demand more of a focus from the opposition's defense - and his ability to set-up and play off of other forwards could give Twellman the opportunity he needs to finally establish himself as a threat. Simply put, if Twellman can't do it with McBride, perhaps he just isn't meant for the US National team.

[Paul. A]

I hope Adin Brown gets a game. Bruce are you listening!

[Martin Fischer]

Originally posted by Alex_1
Note - playing alongside Brian McBride might be a good thing for a player like Taylor Twellman right now - however it could also be his swan song for a little while if he isn't a productive threat. McBride's experience and success will demand more of a focus from the opposition's defense - and his ability to set-up and play off of other forwards could give Twellman the opportunity he needs to finally establish himself as a threat. Simply put, if Twellman can't do it with McBride, perhaps he just isn't meant for the US National team.

If Mathis and Josh Wolf play, and play well, against Paraguay, I doubt you will see Twellman on the 18 person final roster.