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?

MLS Best XI

How does this look for a best XI lineup.  This is the group that was named to the MLS best XI for this 2009 season.  Only a single player from the best XI will be represented in the MLS Cup this Sunday.  That is of course Landon Donovan - US player of the decade.

Conor Casey - Jeff Cunningham

Dwayne De Rosario - Landon Donovan - Stuart Holden - Shalrie Joseph - Freddie Ljungberg

Geoff Cameron - Wilman Conde - Chad Marshall

Zach Thornton

2009 MLS All Star Game vs Everton

MLS All Stars 3 - 1 Chivas (Mexico)

MLS All Stars 4 - 1 Fulham (England)

MLS All Stars 1 - 0 Chelsea (England)

MLS All Stars 2 - 0 Celtic (Scotland)

MLS All Stars 3 - 2 West Ham United (England)

MLS All Stars ? - ? Everton FC (England)

Wednesday night the MLS All Stars look to continue their perfect record when they’ve faced off against other professional teams from around the world.  This year it is former NY MetroStars/current US national team goalkeeper and Everton FC that will play the All Stars.

Here is the full MLS All Star roster:

Goalkeepers
Kasey Keller
Pat Onstad

Defenders
Geoff Cameron
Wilman Conde
Jhon Kennedy Hurtado
Chad Marshall

Midfielders
Davy Arnaud
Kyle Beckerman
Cuauhtemoc Blanco
Brad Davis
Stuart Holden
Shalrie Joseph

Forwards
Conor Casey
Brian Ching
Landon Donovan
Fredy Montero

Who are the biggest surprises to NOT see on the roster for this year’s All Star Game?

MLS Players dominate US MNT January Camp

Why wouldn’t MLS players dominate the January MLS Camp though?  MLS season is long over and doesn’t start up anytime real soon.  On Wednesday, February 11th the US MNT plays in Columbus against rivals Mexico in the first game of the last round of World Cup qualifying.  The US has had good success against Mexico in Columbus and should continue that success in next month. Here is the lineup of players in the camp: Goalkeepers

• Jon Busch (Chicago Fire)
• Will Hesmer (Columbus Crew)
• Troy Perkins (Valerenga IF)
• Matt Pickens (out of contract)

• Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA)
• Danny Califf (FC Midtjylland)
• Sean Franklin (Los Angeles Galaxy)
• Cory Gibbs (Colorado Rapids)
• Clarence Goodson (IK Start)
• Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew)
• Chris Wingert (Real Salt Lake)
• Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)

• Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo)
• Brian Carroll (Columbus Crew)
• Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo)
• Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew)
• Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo)
• Jack Jewsbury (Kansas City Wizards)
• Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA)
• Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)
• John Thorrington (Chicago Fire)

• Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo)
• Kenny Cooper (FC Dallas)
• Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF)
• Chris Rolfe (Chicago Fire)

Former Rookie of the Year Parkhurst on his way to Europe

New England Revolution defender and former Rookie of the Year Michael Parkhurst is leaving Major League Soccer after 4 seasons.  Parkhurst is finishing up contract negotiations with FC Nordsjaelland, a team from Denmark’s Superligaen.

Parkhurst’s contract was up at the end of this past season so his move is free for FC Nordsjaelland.  He didn’t make it a secret that he wanted to go overseas at the end of his contract, so it was no surprise to the Revolution.  The 24 year old defender thought this was going to be the right time in his career to make the move.

This past season’s rookie of the year, Chad Marshall, is also trying out Europe.  Marshall defends for the Columbus Crew but will be appearing in a test match for Mainz05 as a guest player.  Only time will tell if he will fill a more permanent role with the team than “guest”.

Crew advance to first MLS Cup

The Columbus Crew had to overcome a 1-0 halftime defecit to beat the Chicago Fire 2-1 in the Eastern Conference final.  The Fire looked pretty good throughout most of the first half.  At halftime Alexi Lalas didn’t understand what was going on with the Crew.  He had predicted them to win the game.

The second half was like a totally different game.  The Crew looked like a championship team.  Thanks to goals by defender of the year Chad Marshall and Eddie Gavin the Crew still have a chance to become that championship team.

This will be the first trip to the MLS Cup for the Columbus Crew. Their opponents will also be newcomers to the MLS Cup.  The New York Red Bulls have been this far before but never won that conference final game.  Real Salt Lake made the playoffs for the first time in their history this year.

I am going to go ahead and fully agree with Alexi Lalas that Real Salt Lake will play the Crew for the Cup and the Crew do become MLS champions.  Lalas is going to shotgun some Red Bull if the Red Bulls are able to beat Real Salt Lake - that would be mildly interesting to see at least.