30 man World Cup training camp roster announced

The 30 man roster for the World Cup training camp was announced just a little bit ago on ESPN News. The biggest news of this roster was the absence of striker Charlie Davies who was seriously injured in a car accident last year.

Here is the full list:

Keepers
Tim Howard (Everton, England)
Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton, England)
Brad Guzan (Aston Villa, England)

Defense
Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan, Italy)
Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes, France)
Jay DeMerit (Watford, England)
Jonathan Spector (West Ham, England)
Steve Cherundolo (Hanover, Germany)
Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA, MLS)
Clarence Goodson (Start, Norway)
Chad Marshall (Columbus, MLS)
Heath Pearce (FC Dallas, MLS)

Midfield
Michael Bradley (Moenchengladbach, Germany)
Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland)
Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany)
Stuart Holden (Bolton, England)
Jose Francisco Torres (Pachuca, Mexico)
Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus, Denmark)
Alejandro Bedoya (Orebro, Sweden)
Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA, MLS)
Robbie Rogers (Columbus, MLS)
DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland)
Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England)
Landon Donovan (Los Angeles, MLS)

Strikers
Jozy Altidore (Hull City, England)
Brian Ching (Houston, MLS)
Edson Buddle (Los Angeles, MLS)
Herculez Gomez (Puebla, Mexico)
Eddie Johnson (Aris, Greece)
Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake, MLS)

So who else is missing from this list that you might have expected to see here?

Brad Guzan finally ready to leave Chivas USA

Brad Guzan couldn’t go to Aston Villa in January when they agreed to pay $4 million for him.  Now he’s set to leave MLS for $1.5 million.  Too bad for MLS - but they can’t blame themselves for that, they’ll have to blame Bob Bradley for it.

In January Guzan could not get a work permit because he hadn’t played a high enough percentage games for his country.  Now Guzan has played in 5 of the last 8 US games and he is expected to get a work permit that will allow him to play for Aston Villa.

If you look at the Chivas roster you see they have only one other keeper on the senior squad.  Dan Kennedy is that other keeper.  He has played 1 game for Chivas this season - last year he was playing in Chile.

Good luck in England Brad!

3 MLS players going to England

US coach Bob Bradley has named his team that will face England on May 28th.  The roster is dominated by European based players who are not in the middle of a regular season, while only including 3 MLS players.  Landon Donovan, Brad Guzan, and Ricardo Clark are the MLS representatives on the team.

David Beckham is also on the England roster for the game which will potentially be his 101st cap for England.

The game will be played at Wembly on May 28th.

Brad Guzan remains with Chivas USA

Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan isn’t leaving the team and MLS just quite yet.  Guzan was about to make a move to England to play with EPL team Aston Villa on a $2 million transfer, but a work permit was denied.   Now Guzan says he is excited to remain with Chivas USA for another year.

This made me wonder what goes into determining if a person gets a work permit and why would Guzan not be able to get one?  With only minimal research, I’ve found that sports & entertainment is one of 6 types of work permits that can be granted for the UK.  I’m not sure why Guzan would be denied a work permit.  Maybe they have too many American goalkeepers over there already?  Who happens to know the answer to that question?

Wizards look to change formation and Fulham buys the US National Team

Along with the recent departure of Nick Garcia, the news that Jose Burciaga Jr is going to Colorado for more draft picks reveals signs that the Wizards will be looking to play a new formation.  The lineup will feature 1 defender (who needs more than Jimmy Conrad anyway?), 6 in the midfield, and 3 strikers.

Jose Burciaga Jr is headed to the Colorado Rapids.  In exchange for Burciaga Jr the Wizards will get a second round draft pick in 2009.

The Wizards may also be losing Eddie Johnson to Fulham.  It seems the US National team is just moving to London.  Now Fulham, who already has 4 Americans, is after Eddie Johnson and Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan.  Who will be the next American to head for Fulham?

Brad Guzan is another American goalkeeper in demand

It would be hard to argue that American goal keepers are the hottest soccer export going out of the United States and thus out of Major League Soccer.  Brad Guzan is the next potential target for big European clubs to take away from MLS.

Yahoo! Sports reports that teams such as Celtic, Liverpool, Arsenal, Olympiacos and Auxerre might be some of the teams interested in last years MLS goalkeeper of the year.

This would be a huge loss for Chivas and MLS, but probably a great gain for some other club, and aslo for Guzan’s career.  Guzan is only 23 years old and should have a wonderful career ahead of him.

Good luck whatever happens Brad!

First of the year end awards - I’m 2 for 2

Goalkeeper of the year and MLS fair play award were just awarded and my predictions for both of them were right on.

Brad Guzan from Chivas USA took the Goalkeeper of the year award.  Micheal Parkhurst and his 4 fouls all year won the MLS fair play award.

Congrats to both of them, and I guess to me too for getting those right.  Okay - maybe not to me until all of my picks have been proven right.  yeah right…..

Gold Cup Roster Announced

Eight Major League Soccer sides will have representatives on the team that will represent the US in this summer’s Gold Cup.  Bob Bradley announced the roster today featuring 12 MLS players and 11 from outside MLS.  The Gold Cup is the number one priority for Bob Bradley this summer, so this should be his top team.   The US won the Gold Cup in 2005.  All of the players listed as forwards come from Major League Soccer. MLS Members:

• Steve Ralston
• Taylor Twellman
• Michael Parkhurst
• Brian Ching
• Ricardo Clark
• Brad Guzan
• Jonathan Bornstein
• Landon Donovan
• Pablo Mastroeni
• Frankie Hejduk
• Justin Mapp
• Eddie Johnson

• Tim Howard
• Kasey Keller
• Carlos Bocanegra
• Jay DeMerit
• Oguchi Onyewu
• Frank Simek
• Jonathan Spector
• DaMarcus Beasley
• Michael Bradley
• Clint Dempsey
• Benny Feilhaber

Goal of the Week: Sacha Kljestan - Chivas USA

I finally got around to voting for the Sierra Mist Goal of the Week tonight. There wasn’t anything spectacular to vote for, but it seemed clear to me that Sacha Kljestan deserves the goal of the week, and aparently most of you agree, he had 49% of the votes. That brings me to my next thought: Chivas USA. I know they at home and up against an expansion team, but they were still the most impressive team in my opinion.

Maykel Galindo looked like he’s going to cause a lot of problems for defenses this year. With him and Ante Razov they could be a deadly strike force. I hate to admit it cause I don’t like the guy, but toss Guevara in there with those two and it gets even more dangerous. On top of that Brad Guzan looked like you’d have to be crazy to not keep him in the net. I’ve got a feeling about that team this year, I wish I was a Chivas fan, cuase I think things could be really good for you if you are a Chivas fan this year.

Of course we haven’t seen the Wizards play yet. Maybe they’ll be more impressive. Or maybe not.