Twenty-seven players called in, 18 will dress. I'm guessing 13-16 will play. I hope Nick gets a chance. After his performance against El Salvador, I suspect Klein has re-established himself - which oddly may rule him out of this game if Bruce wants to look at more players.
Gansler talked on this at the last Crusaders meeting. He said Klein should be there every time and probably would have been at the World Cup if not for the injury. He said he was real happy about Nick getting a chance and expected that to do wonders for him by giving him not only more training in the offseason but also give him tons of confidence
I've talked with NG on numerous occasions about his desire to make the team. He has always been more than kind about his not having made it there and being positive about his chances in the future and the guys who made it instead of him. I mean, the guy is great...he just keeps getting #2. So he's definitely in Arena's sight, but who knows what will happen. I've read the articles and know Nick would like to go. Best of luck to him. He DOES deserve it. He works his arse off. Klein, too, is a fantastic asset to the nat team. I expect that Gansler was right in deducing that had Chris not gotten hurt that he wouldve been a definite part of the World Cup team. I wish them both the best. It would also be a great way to pass this extra long off-season. It's been about 2 months since season was over and I'm already antsy to get the games going again! Bet those guys would love to be playing right now instead of watering their lawns.
I don't know that Chris Klein would've made the World Cup team. He was definitely on the bubble. Perhaps he might have replaced Armas on the roster instead of Vanney. Perhaps he might've replaced Vanney instead of Cherundolo. If he hadn't gone, I suspect he would've been one of the last cuts. But then, if he had gone, he probably wouldn't have seen too much playing time, either. He will, however, get his chance during qualfying for Germany.