Complete U.S. Soccer Release I Detailed 23-Man Roster
PORTLAND, Ore. --- Former Portland men’s soccer standout Steve Cherundolo has been named to the U.S. National Team’s 23-man roster which will travel to South Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The team departs for South Africa on May 30 and will play its opening match of the tournament against England on June 12 in Rustenburg.
Cherundolo (1997-98) is a defender with extensive international experience. The native of San Diego, Calif., has 58 caps for the U.S. and his steady presence has long been on display in the Bundesliga, where he has been a regular at Hannover for more than a decade. This will be the third World Cup for Cherundolo, who is one of seven defenders on the roster.
Former Portland standout Heath Pearce (2002-04), a defender who was on the U.S. 30-man preliminary World Cup roster and played against the Czech Republic on Tuesday night, was not one of the final 23 named by head coach Bob Bradley.
The U.S. squad carries a variety of World Cup experience into South Africa, as fifteen players have been named to their first World Cup roster. Meantime, six players have played in a World Cup game, with midfielder Landon Donovan leading the team with eight appearances – all as a starter – while DaMarcus Beasley has six World Cup caps to his credit.
Donovan is the leading capwinner on the roster with 121 international appearances. The USA’s all-time leader in goals (42) and assists (42) is one of two players with a World Cup goal in the books, along with Clint Dempsey. The Bronze Ball winner from the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup is coming off a banner year, having become the first American player to reach the final of a European cup competition.
Overall, players representing clubs from 10 different countries will be heading to South Africa. A record 19 players on the roster play professionally for clubs outside the United States. The average number of caps earned is 34, compared to 44 in 2006. Likewise, the team is slightly younger than four years earlier, the average age slightly under 27 years old while in 2006 that number was closer to 28.5 years of age.
The U.S. will play their final home match before departing for South Africa when they face Turkey on May 29 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia (tickets), where more than 45,000 tickets have already been sold. The United States will play one final friendly before the tournament begins, this time on South African soil when they face Australia on June 5 at Ruimsig Stadium in Roodepoort.
The U.S. Men’s National Team has been drawn into Group C with England, Slovenia and Algeria for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The U.S. will open its sixth consecutive World Cup finals tournament against England on June 12 in Rustenburg, and will follow that game with matches against Slovenia on June 18 in Johannesburg and Algeria on June 23 in Tshwane/Pretoria.
U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION (All-Time World Cup Roster Appearances)
GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (2010), Marcus Hahnemann (2006, 2010), Tim Howard (2006, 2010)
DEFENDERS (7): Carlos Bocanegra (2006, 2010), Jonathan Bornstein (2010), Steve Cherundolo (2002, 2006, 2010), Jay DeMerit (2010), Clarence Goodson (2010), Oguchi Onyewu (2006, 2010), Jonathan Spector (2010)
MIDFIELDERS (9): DaMarcus Beasley (2002, 2006, 2010), Michael Bradley (2010), Ricardo Clark (2010), Clint Dempsey (2006, 2010), Landon Donovan (2002, 2006, 2010), Maurice Edu (2010), Benny Feilhaber (2010), Stuart Holden (2010), José Torres (2010)
FORWARDS (4): Jozy Altidore (2010), Edson Buddle (2010), Robbie Findley (2010), Herculez Gomez (2010)
