US Roster for Nov. 17th Out

That dude you see is Teal Bunbury. In that picture he's pissing off a bunch of Columbus Crew fans because he just dropped the first goal of his professional career. In this post, he's pissing off the entire country of Canada because he just bailed on them to come play for America.

According to a post on Soccer by Ives earlier today, Bunbury (20) is one of six players called to the match next week who are in line to earn their first ever senior cap for the United States. The rest of the youth invasion includes Dominic Cervi (24), Tim Ream (23), Gale Agbossoumonde (18), Mikkel Diskerud (20), and Juan Agudelo (17).

The full squad, as reported by Ives

Goalie
Brad Guzan (Aston Villa - 18 caps)
Dom Cervi (Celtic - 0 caps)

Defenders
Clarence Goodson (Brøndby IF - 16 caps - 2 goals)
Jonathan Spector (West Ham United - 27 caps)
Jonathan Bornstein (Tigres de la UANL - 35 caps - 2 goals)
Eric Lichaj (Aston Villa - 1 cap)
Nat Borchers (Real Salt Lake - 2 caps)
Tim Ream (New York Red Bulls - 0 caps)
Gale Agbossoumonde (Sporting Braga - 0 caps)

Midfielders
Alejandro Bedoya (Örebro - 5 caps)
Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew - 7 caps)
Brian Carroll (Columbus Crew - 7 caps)
Logan Pause (Chicago Fire - 5 caps)
Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew - 12 caps - 1 goal)
Mikkel Diskerud (Stabæk - 0 caps)

Forwards
Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake - 10 caps)
Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls - 0 caps)
Teal Bunbury (Kansas City Wizards - 0 caps)

That's 145 caps and 5 goals spread across 18 players. 78 of those caps and 4 of those goals are from just 3 players too. For comparisons sake, Cobi Jones, the most capped player in USMNT history, has 164 caps. That's how you start a youth movement!

The two guys I'm most excited to see are Gale Agbossoumonde (who will henceforth be known simply as 'Boss') and Juan Agudelo. Boss is a 6'2" monster of muscle who played like a man among boys during the Milk Cup in July. He's played 16 games with the US U-20's and has probably made at least one opponent cry during each of those matches.

Agudelo looked like the best player on a Red Bulls team featuring million-dollar-men Juan Pablo Angel, Rafa Marquez and Thierry Henry during their first round playoff loss to San Jose. He has 23 caps with various US youth teams, during which time he tallied 15 goals. That's the kind of strike rate that gets a young kid called in, especially when all of the other forward options haven't been performing lately.

Canada is Part of America, Right?

Along with all of the MLS fixtures, this weekend will feature a number of international friendlies. Now, we can argue the logic of having league games on the same day as a FIFA international date (you will notice that none of the big European leagues are playing this weekend) but instead let's focus on the good: there are a lot of MLS players getting called up to play with their national teams.

The usual countries will all be accounted for: a few players for Costa Rica, Rafa Marquez to Mexico, Dane Richards to Jamaica, etc. But the big issue is what's going on with Canada's national team. Now, I realize this is stretching the bounds of "This American Pitch" a little bit, but just go with me here, I am an eighth Canadian, after all.

Teal Bunbury, the 20 year old forward with Kansas City, grew up playing on Canadian youth teams. However, he is also eligible to play for the United States as his mother is American and he's apparently not ready to commit to a senior side. So far he's been very diplomatic about the refusal, insisting that it's due to maintaining playing time with his club side as a rookie during his interview with MLSsoccer.com

MLSsoccer.com: You aren’t going, but you have to be flattered that Canada are calling and indicating you are someone who could be in their plans.

Bunbury: It feels really good. As a 20-year-old, playing internationally is a great thing. I feel blessed and honored to be able to represent my family and represent my country.

MLSsoccer.com: Some of the rumors out there are that you said no to Canada because you are thinking about the United States.

Bunbury: I would say right now that stuff really isn’t my mind.

MLSsoccer.com: We have to ask: If it were between the two and both called you up, where would that leave you?

Bunbury: Honestly, right now it’s just time to focus on the Wizards.

There's a lot more in the link, so give it a look. It's worth pointing out, though, that at this point there is no reason to believe that he couldn't earn a spot on the USMNT. The only forward who has to be penciled in for every game right now is Jozy Altidore, at least until Charlie Davies gets healthy. If Bunbury can continue to grow as a player it's easy to see him making an impact with the Yanks.

That's not the only issue for Canada though. You see, Canada has two games in the next week, facing Peru on September 4th and Honduras September 7th. Three of the most important players for Canada's national team are Dwayne De Rosario, Julian De Guzman and Nana Attakora, who also happen to make up the backbone of Canada's lone top division squad, Toronto FC.

At the moment Toronto is in 9th place in MLS, 2 points out of their first playoff spot in club history, and with games on 9/4 at FC Dallas and 9/8 at Chicago. It appears that, while the three will play tomorrow against Peru, Canadian head coach Stephen Hart will release the trio for their game next Wednesday. Personally, I think that's a great decision.

There is always a contentious relationship between national teams and club teams when it comes to friendly dates. That relationship is even more strained when the club team is the most important club team in the country the players represent. If you want to stay in the good graces of everyone, I think you have to let the players return to their club and try to fight their way into a playoff spot.