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.

US 0 - 0 Colombia: This is why people hate soccer

The US tied Colombia 0-0 last night. If there was any action worth talking about from the game I'd tell you, but there really wasn't. The match was pretty terrible to watch, even from a soccer fan's perspective. Anyone who was tuning in for the first time probably won't be doing so for a second any time soon. The only things worth mentioning are that Brek Shea and Eric Lichaj both got their first cap with the national team.

So what have we learned from these past two friendlies?

1. We play the 4-4-2 for a reason
Saturday it was the 4-2-3-1, Tuesday is was the "4-3-3" that looked like a 4-1-4-1. Both games saw the offense look stagnant at best. Maybe that's more a result of playing guys with less experience and not having Landon, but it wasn't fun to watch.

2. Our players need to play
Gooch looked a little better against Colombia than against Poland, but there's still a ton of rust there. Jozy keep squandering chances and it looks like the ball plays him instead of vice-versa. These guys are very good and need to be cornerstones of our team, but they won't be if they sit on the bench at their clubs.

3. Jobs are up for grabs
With all the new players coming up, and few performing extremely well, there could some serious turnover in the next 18 months. Landon, Deuce, Timmy, Boca and Dolo are safe. The rest will have to fight. I'm especially excited for the Edu/Bradley/Jones battle since they all look like actual soccer players.

Rating the Players
This is my attempt to rank who did well and who didn't over these past few games. Players are measured against the standards I held for them before the friendlies, and more time on the field will mean higher placement, just because I got to see you more.

Jermaine Jones (great introduction to the team)
Steve Cherundolo (old man's still got it)
Stuart Holden (will start and probably let Deuce play forward)
Clint Dempsey (looks like a meth head, but balls outta control)
Eric Lichaj (looks like the new Dolo in a few years)
Clarence Goodson (should be moving on from Norway to a better league)
Tim Howard (not gonna fault him for 2 awful clearances)
Michael Bradley (all over the place, but not his usual self)
Carlos Bocanegra (still our best option a LB)
Heath Pearce (did better than haters want to give him credit for)
Maurice Edu (not his fault he had to play a new position)
Michael Parkhurst (solid in the middle, not really tested)
Brad Guzan (didn't do much, didn't have to)
Eddie Johnson (played better than Jozy in his few minutes)
Jozy Altidore (at least he scored once)
Brek Shea (a disappointing debut for the young player)
Benny Feilhaber (I gave him too much credit after Poland)
Jonathan Spector (invisible)
Alejandro Bedoya (still not an international)
Oguchi Onyewu (way too rusty)

US 2 - 2 Poland: A few surprises, not much learned

The US Mens National Team hosted Poland (if you can call it hosting when probably 65% of the crowd was Polish) and played to a 2-2 draw in a game that featured some lineup and formation experimentation.

You can find great write-ups of the action here and here, so I won't focus on that. Suffice to say that I was happy with how the US attacked, we need to finish chances better, and the two goals we allowed were both the fault of awful clearances due to our roster changes, and I'm not at all worried about that becoming an issue for the first-team USMNT in the future. You can watch the goals below to get a little better idea of how it went.



Instead, here's a list of good and bad things I got from this game:

The Good
-A new formation! It didn't go great, which you'd expect with a first time change, but I'm glad to see Bob experimenting.
-Stuart Holden built on his recent club form and went the full 90, putting in dangerous balls, and continuing to look like a big piece for the team's future. He's going to force his way onto the field soon.
-Benny Feilhaber looking good when he had the ball, but it would've been nice to see him with it a little more.
-Jermaine Jones is fitting in well out there. His ball to Altidore for the first goal was first class.
-Steve Cherundolo...UNBELIEVABLE. Can we freeze Dolo in time for 4 years?

The Bad
-The center backs were not what we would've hoped for. Edu rightfully looked like a guy playing out of position (not that he doesn't have great potential as a CB, but he's not there now) and Gooch still looks bad. That missed clearance for the first goal was TERRIBLE.
-For a game that allows 6 substitutes, there were way too few subs and the single was was pretty bad. If the last two games have shown anything, Alejandro Bedoya is not an international right now. Also, Eric Lichaj deserved a cap.
-I'm still not 100% sold with Jozy's lone-striker abilities. His one goal was great as was his rocket off the cross bar, but there is still a lot of his game going towards the net that needs improving.

So what do I expect for the game Tuesday against Colombia? Well, given the single sub and Bocanegra going back to France, I think it'll be a very different lineup.

I expect the backline to be
-Pearce--Goodson--Gooch--Spector-
with Parkhurst and Lichaj getting minutes. If Gooch was getting time with Milan I think he sits, but he really needs all the minutes he can get right now.

Similar to Gooch I think Jozy gets the start again due to needing minutes, but GAM (that's Grown Ass Man for you non-hip cats) Eddie Johnson comes in for action as well.

The midfield should be fairly similar to start with, but change a lot at half. Brek will get minutes but I don't think he starts. It's hard to see Bradley not playing, but I think we'll get to see some Edu/Jones D-mid pairing as well. I also wouldn't be surprised to see Holden slide back there for a bit if 2 of  Jones, Edu and Bradley are off, opening up another chance for Bedoya to try and look good on the wing.

Charlie Davies Update

As we near a pair of US friendlies, ESPN just put out an article by Charlie Davies that talks about the accident last year and his rehab since that night. It's a truly inspirational piece that I recommend any USMNT fan read.

His story flows from the tragic

It's tough to describe how hard it was to walk again. Putting pressure on my right leg and believing it would hold me up felt like trusting somebody with your life on a 300-foot cliff. In the fourth week, I moved across the road to the national rehab hospital. With a lot of help, I took my first steps on crutches -- and I broke down and cried. It was the first time I ever saw my dad shed tears.

to the disappointment of a comeback that just wasn't enough

So when I got that call from Bob, telling me he was proud of my progress but that I wasn't ready for training camp, my world crumbled. But, looking back, in my heart I know I couldn't have competed then at the international level. I have no bitterness and now no deadlines: I'll be ready when I'm ready.

to the continued progress and resurgence we all hope for.

But I'm seeing the old me more often. A few weeks ago, after finally returning to play in reserve matches, I had a guy one-on-one and figured it was time to pull out my go-to move. I did my stepover to the right, then blew past my man on the left, took a shot and forced the keeper to make a good save. When I looked back, my bench was standing up, and the crowd was clapping. It hit them before it hit me: I'm almost there.

Get well Chuck D. We'll see you at the Gold Cup.

October International Friendlies

The US has two friendlies coming up this month, facing Poland in Chicago this Saturday and Colombia in Philadelphia next Tuesday. The roster Bob Bradley called in is heavily European-based, with Heath Pearce and poster boy Brek Shea being the only two MLS players called in. They won't be with the team on against Poland, but will be available for the Colombia game next week.

The full roster is:

GOALKEEPER
Brad Guzan (Aston Villa, 16 caps)
Tim Howard (Everton, 55 caps)

DEFENDERS
Carlos Bocanegra (Saint-Étienne, 83 caps/12 goals)
Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96, 64 caps/2 goals)
Clarence Goodson (IK Start, 14 caps/2 goals)
Eric Lichaj (Aston Villa, 0 caps/0 goals)
Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan, 56 caps/5 goals)
Michael Parkhurst (FC Nordsjaelland, 8 caps/0 goals)
Heath Pearce (FC Dallas, 32 caps/0 goals)
Jonathan Spector (West Ham United, 25 caps/0 goals)

MIDFIELDERS
Alejandro Bedoya (Örebro, 3 caps/0 goals)
Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach, 47 caps/8 goals)
Maurice Edu (Rangers, 16 caps/1 goal)
Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus, 35 caps/2 goals)
Stuart Holden (Bolton Wanderers, 15 caps/2 goals)
Jermaine Jones (Schalke 04, 0 caps/0 goals)
Brek Shea (FC Dallas, 0 caps/0 goals)

FORWARDS
Jozy Altidore (Villareal, 29 caps/9 goals)
Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC, 66 caps/19 goals)
Eddie Johnson (Fulham FC, 41 caps/12 goals)

The biggest news here is newcomers Eric Lichaj (LEE-high) and Jermaine Jones. Jones has been the object of many US fans obsessions since saying he was interested in switching from Germany and Lichaj is a young defender in England who just may grow in to an answer to the USA's lack of full back.

I do think it's kinda odd that no players based in Mexico got called up, it would've been nice to see Torres again. Unfortunately, I can understand not calling in Herculez Gomez. He's 28 and has no real future with the USMNT. He'll be too old for the next World Cup and isn't so good right now to warrant a spot on the 2011 Gold Cup roster regardless of age.

Some other folks I'd like to see at some point:

Hunter Freeman - Defender who MLS fans may remember. Plays with Clarence Goodson at IK Start now and is a pretty consistent starter. Only 25, may be a good piece for us with such an aging defense.

Justin Braun - The Chivas USA forward has a big body, but also brings more on the ball skill than you'd expect from a 6'3" white kid.

And then, as for (non-obvious) people in playoff races
Omar Gonzalez
Kyle Beckerman (I know we have about 800 CMs, but dude's been awesome this year)
Robbie Rogers

Tim Ream needs more than 25 games of good showing to get a callup, in my opinion. He's no better than Gonzalez was as a rookie, and he had to put up a season and a half of solid play to get capped.

Fall 2010 U-17 Residency Program

US Soccer released the latest class of U-17's who will be headed to the residency program in Bradenton, FL.

Here's the list of young guns whose names you should file away for 2018.

GOALKEEPERS (4)
Wade Hamilton (Arsenal FC; Murietta, Calif.)
Jake McGuire (Chivas USA; Chino, Calif.)
Kendall McIntosh (Mustang Academy; Santa Rosa, Calif.)
Fernando Pina (Houston Dynamo; Houston, Texas)

DEFENDERS (12)
Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas; Plano, Texas)
Russell Canouse (NY Red Bulls; Lancaster, Pa.)
Mobi Fehr (Tokyo Verdy 1969; Tokyo, Japan)
Trevor Haberkorn (Solar Chelsea Academy; Roanoke, Texas)
Luis Martir (Chivas de Guadalajara; Los Angeles, Calif.)
Alessandro Mion (Kendall SC; Miami, Fla.)
Cole Nagy (Real Salt Lake-AZ; Scottsdale, Ariz.)
Miguel Polley (Derby County Wolves; West Bloomfield, Mich.)
Tarik Salkicic (Strictly Soccer; Pinellas Park, Fla.)
Nathan Smith (Cal Odyssey; Clovis, Calif.)
Andrew Souders (Crew Soccer Academy; Amherst, Ohio)
Danny Zaid (Camp Elite Guatemala; Guatemala City)

MIDFIELDERS (15)
Ricardo Aldape (Lemont Raiders; Chicago Heights, Ill.)
Joe Amon (South Carolina United FC; Summerville, S.C.)
Marco Delgado (Cosmo Academy West; Glendora, Calif.)
Ruben Duran (Las Vegas Premier; Las Vegas, Nev.)
Patrick Foss (D.C. United; South Riding, Va.)
Alejandro Guido (Aztecs Premier; Chula Vista, Calif.)
Jared Hegardt (Notts Forest FC; San Diego, Calif.)
Ryan Masch (De Anza Force; San Jose, Calif.)
Nico Melo (Florida Rush; Kissimmee, Fla.)
Antonio Murillo (Neusport; Las Vegas, Nev.)
Adam Najem (NY Red Bulls; Clifton, N.J.)
Marc Pelosi (De Anza Force; Sunnyvale, Calif.)
Esteban Rodriguez (Cosmos Academy West; Palmdale, Calif.)
Dillon Serna (Colorado Rapids; Brighton, Colo.)
Colton Storm (HMMS Eagle FC; Mechanicsburg, Pa.)

FORWARDS (9)
Paul Arriola (Arsenal FC; Chula Vista, Calif.)
Kevin De La Torre (Chivas USA; Winchester, Calif.)
Daniel Flores (Cal Odyssey; Fresno, Calif.)
Kellen Gulley (MS Chicago Fire Juniors; Clinton, Miss.)
Edwin Luna (P.A.C. Tigres; San Jose, Calif.)
Alex Muyl (Cosmos Academy East; New York, N.Y.)
Andrew Oliver (Westside United; Indianapolis, Ind.)
Mario Rodriguez (Central Aztecs; North Hollywood, Calif.)
Cole Seiler (Anderson, S.C.; CESA)

11 of the 40 players are coming from MLS youth programs. I'm not sure if that's a good thing because it shows that the academies are finding and growing good players or a bad thing because they think they'll do better going to the residency program than staying at home. Either way, it's nice to see so many young kids with experience in the programs of professional teams.

Also here is a Google Map I put together showing where they're all from.
http://bit.ly/2010USMNTResidency

Blue: Goalies
Green: Defenders
Yellow: Midfielders
Red: Forwards

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.

CONCACAF Blows It Again

I'm shocked (SHOCKED) to find that CONCACAF has made a terrible decision for changing their qualification process for the World Cup.

For those who don't know, previously there were two knockout stages to determine the 12 countries that would make it to group stage. Every country played at least one knockout stage game, with the top 13 getting byes to the second round. For the group stage, the top two teams from each of the three groups would progress on to the final group of 6, lovingly called The Hex. The Hex was a full home-and-away tournament with the top 3 teams qualifying for the World Cup.

Now, they will expand the group stage to 32 teams. There will initially be 8 groups of 4. The top two from each group will move on to 4 groups of 4. Again the top two from each group move on to 2 groups of 4. The winner of each group automatically qualifies for the World Cup and the two second place teams have a playoff for the third automatic qualifying spot.

So what sucks about this? It's not that there are more teams in it now. That's actually a good thing because it will give teams like the US more easy games, which means more opportunity to try out youngsters.

It's that, under this new format, it's highly likely that the US will never play Mexico in a meaningful WCQ match. Unless something drastic happens the two of us will remain as the best two CONCACAF squads meaning we will never be put in the same group.

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty disappointed to know that I will never be able to travel down to the Azteca and watch the USMNT play a game like the fans in the video below.

The Devil You Know

The breaking news last night was the decision by the US Soccer Federation to keep Bob Bradley on as coach for another 4 years. Feelings are mixed among a lot of people, but no one seems too emotional either way. Is it a good thing or a bad thing that people seem to accept Bradley but not be enthralled by him? Let's try to break this down.

The Good

1. Bradley has been successful
In the past 4 year, the USMNT has reached both Gold Cup finals, winning one, made it to the finals of a FIFA tournament, won the CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying group, won it's World Cup Group, and beaten home team on 3 different continents (North America, Europe, and Africa). Not many coaches in US history can claim these kinds of credentials on their resume. He is clearly a very good coach who has done great things with the US team.

2. The players like Bradley
If there is one thing that BB has done incredibly well it's protect his players. They know that what happens inside the locker room will stay there and they respect that. Bradley does not air out dirty laundry in the press, does not put himself above the team, but will tell players how it is even when they don't like it.

3. Bradley is good at bringing in new talent
Some have been hard on Bradley for not bringing in new faces fast enough, but I think that's off. Charlie Davies got called in when he deserved to get called in. Same with other young players like Bedoya. You can't be turning over the lineup every friendly to give each fringe player a shot. Besides, after watching him get eaten alive against Brazil, does anyone here really want to argue that Bedoya should have been on the team over another midfielder?

The Bad

1. Bradley is not a good tactician
That ugly 4-4-2 empty bucket reared its head for too long. I understand that the US gets by more on physicality, fitness and heart than having skilled players, but there need to be better game plans against the top squads. We've seen it too many times where one player is clearly out-classed by his assignment and there is no tactical change to provide him some sort of cover. We saw it with Neymar on the wings in the Brazil friendly, and we saw it with Ghana's midfield having way too much time on the ball in the World Cup. Very rarely will a plan make up for a significant gulf in talent, but the right tactics can make the US a better team than they are right now.

2. Bradley relies on his guys too much
This relates back to tactics. How long did it take for Beasley to finally fall out of favor? What about Mastroeni? Rico Clark and Oguchi Onyewu in the World Cup are two more examples of Bradley's difficulty with letting go. Sure his loyalty works as well. The calls for him to bench his son have disappeared as Michael Bradley has become maybe the most important player on the US squad at the moment. However, it's a dangerous game he plays and I think there have been more bad results from it than good ones.

I can understand if you think this is at odds with #3 of the Good list, but hear me out. Bradley picked the right 23 to go to South Africa. Where he had problems was putting the right people on the field without seeing someone fail first. Once Gooch looked slow and hurt, he was off. Once Bradley realized Rico didn't belong on the pitch he subbed him out in the 31st minute against Ghana. They shouldn't have been left off the team, but they should not have been starting. The problem is, he should have been willing to make these moves before poor play forced his hand.

3. 2-term coaches don't have good track records
Bruce Arena in 2006. Marcello Lippi with Italy. Raymond Domenech with France. Can Bradley buck the trend and provide 4 more good years? If Landon and/or Clint start to slip in their early 30's is a coach who has been relying on them for 7 years going to be able to say "Sorry guys, it's time for a young guy like Brek Shea or Mix Diskerud to take your place" or will he stay loyal?

Overall I would say I'm not disappointed that Bradley is sticking around. I think he has done an admirable job and I think we are in good not great hands going forward. I would have liked to see him take a job in Europe for a couple reasons (to open up the door for US coaches to move there and to bring in a new coach to lead the US team) but I'm not going to be upset that he is still in charge of the team.

Brazil/USA Quick Recap

I'm tired, it's late, but here are my starting 11 thoughts after the 2-0 win for Brazil.

1. I wasn't going in expecting the US to win so I won't say I'm disappointed in the result, it would've been nice to get a goal back somewhere though. Landon staying up in the box in the 3rd minute shows the kind of classy player he is, but I should would've loved to have seen him let the ref know he got run over and earn the penalty he deserved.

2. Michael Bradley had another solid game although he had some very uncharacteristic mental errors late in the game. Glad he got to wear the captain's armband too.

3. I would rank the performances of the 4 young guys:
Gonzalez >>>> Feilhaber = Jozy > Bedoya

4. Omar Gonzalez is a beast with a future. I'm saying he's as good, but it didn't look like we lost a whole lot with him out there instead of Gooch or DeMerit and the kid's only 21. On the flip side, we've seen young American defenders look really good against elite South American squads during friendly games in NYC before and we know how Heath Pearce hasn't quite turned out as hoped.

5. With Gonzalez (6'5") and Goodson (6'4") in the middle, that's a combined 12 feet 9 inches of defender you have to get a ball over. A scary thought for teams who want to play down the wings and cross it in.

6. Feilhaber and Jozy looked to be playing to avoid injury more than anything else. Considering all the transfer talk that's going on around those two right now I can't say I blame them.

7. Jozy's year with Hull did one thing for sure. That kid can draw fouls like no one else on the USA roster. He drew 4 fouls in his first 20 minutes of play that all lead to dangerous set pieces. Those are the things that really help the team. Not as much as if he was scoring again, but still plenty helpful.

8. Bedoya looks a step slow at all times out there and his lack of defensive ability really exposed Spector, who we already knew wasn't the greatest RB in the world. Unless the US can develop some better fullbacks any outside mid we play will have to be able to stop the attack.

9. Starting Landon in that second striker position made for a weird lineup at the end of the game when the US had 3 strikers and 3 central midfielders trying to play their part in a 4-4-2.

10. Brazil is soooooooooooo pretty to watch. They clearly had a flair that wasn't there with Dunga. Whether it was because of a friendly game they didn't have to worry about, or the infusion of young studs like Pato and Neymar, it was a joy to watch their skill even if it hurt to see the US lose.

11. If this was the last game on the sidelines for Bob Bradley, then thank you sir for all you've done these past four years. Good luck in Europe.

USA v. Brazil friendly tonight

Here is the final roster that the USA will dress against Brazil tonight. Coverage will begin at 8pm on ESPN2-HD.

GOALKEEPERS- Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton)

DEFENDERS- Carlos Bocanegra (Saint-Étienne), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)

MIDFIELDERS- Alejandro Bedoya (Örebro), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht)

FORWARDS- Jozy Altidore (Villareal), Edson Buddle (Los Angeles Galaxy), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Herculez Gomez (Pachuca)

Jermaine Jones and Chad Marshall were initially called in but had to decline the invites, unfortunately. While some were worried that Jones may be second-guessing his decision to join the American squad he put those rumors to rest pretty swiftly, explaining that he wants to make sure he is 100% healthy before joining the team. I'm good with this explanation. It isn't important to me that a guy who is still recovering from a broken leg to play a friendly in August, it's important that he comes out next year and monkey-stomps Mexico in the Gold Cup.

There is a silver lining to JJ missing the game though, and that is Omar Gonzalez's USMNT debut. I <3 this kid. He's been a rock in the back line for LA, and with the US backline looking pretty shaky for 2014 grooming this kid for international duty is going to be super important.

One guy who didn't get the call up was Bobby Convey. I understand that he was kind of an entitled punk for a couple years there, but he seems to have turned his game and personality around this season. He performed well in 45 previous caps during his younger, less d-bag years, and has been a force for the San Jose midfield this season, dishing out 8 assists and providing numerous more dangerous balls. Even if he is already 27, I'd love to see him on the field as either a left-side midfielder or left-back and I think his play this year has earned that.