US Roster for 2006 World Cup Announced Tonight

[TheValleyRaider]

LIVE at 6pm EST on SportsCenter no less. :eek:

Bruce Arena names the 23 man squad going to Germany in June to stake our claim to one of sport's greatest prizes.

USA!
USA!
USA!

So who's he gonna pick?

[TheValleyRaider]

And here they are...

Goalkeepers (3)
Marcus Hahnemann
Tim Howard
Kasey Keller

Defenders (8)
Carlos Bocanegra
Steve Cherundolo
Jimmy Conrad
Cory Gibbs
Frankie Hejduk
Eddie Lewis
Oguchi Onyewu
Eddie Pope

Midfielders (8)
DaMarcus Beasley
Bobby Convey
Clint Dempsey
Landon Donovan
Pablo Mastroeni
John O'Brien
Ben Olsen
Claudio Reyna

Forwards (4)
Brian Ching
Eddie Johnson
Brian McBride
Josh Wolff

Pre WC Matches remaining:
5/23 vs. Morocco in Nashville, TN
5/26 vs. Venezuela in Cleveland, OH
5/28 vs. Latvia in Hartford, CT

[UNHWildCats]

-_- Taylor Twellman was robbed!

[bandl]

DaMarcus Beasley made it, from my favorite team...PSV Eindhoven (that's in Holland)!!! :hurray: :hurray: :hurray:

[BlackSaturday]

Beasley's first cousin is our Appalachian great Devon Fowlkes

http://goasu.com/autoimage/pkyiUp8.jpg

[TexasTerror]

-_- Taylor Twellman was robbed!

Why was Twellman robbed?

Brian Ching was a great pick. He plays for my favorite team, the Houston Dynamo and is the leading scorer in MLS this season. He is amazing in 'set plays' and that's where your going to need goals from in the World Cup.

Best of luck to Ching!

[BlackSaturday]

Making the roster is Furman alum and MLS Rookie of the Year Clint Demspey.

http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/furm/sports/m-soccer/auto_action/79475.jpeg

[UNHWildCats]

Why was Twellman robbed?

Brian Ching was a great pick. He plays for my favorite team, the Houston Dynamo and is the leading scorer in MLS this season. He is amazing in 'set plays' and that's where your going to need goals from in the World Cup.

Best of luck to Ching!

Over the full season last year Twellman was MLS's leading scorer and MVP!

Taylor Twellman is the best player on any MLS roster and deserved a spot over any other MLS roster player.

[Pard4Life]

No Meola in net? :confused:

I know, he is too old.

We are in for a rough time in Germany. We had to get a 'group of death'. Personally, I think our world ranking is way too high. We have never beaten the core European teams.. i.e. Italy, France, Germany, England.

[TheValleyRaider]

I admit I was a little surprised to see Ching in over Twellman, especially given most predictions had Twellman. But I trust Bruce, and if he thinks Ching will be more helpful than Twellman, then I believe him.

Our group is certainly tough, but we could sneak through with a 1-1-1 record. I could also see us upset the Czechs or Italy, but would be pleasantly surprised if it did happen. The tough part is that we'll be facing those teams first, while both of them get a relative warmup against Ghana before battling each other. My hopes are high, but I'm also a natural optimist.

[Pard4Life]

I admit I was a little surprised to see Ching in over Twellman, especially given most predictions had Twellman. But I trust Bruce, and if he thinks Ching will be more helpful than Twellman, then I believe him.

Our group is certainly tough, but we could sneak through with a 1-1-1 record. I could also see us upset the Czechs or Italy, but would be pleasantly surprised if it did happen. The tough part is that we'll be facing those teams first, while both of them get a relative warmup against Ghana before battling each other. My hopes are high, but I'm also a natural optimist.

We might have a better shot vs. Italy than against the Czechs. Nedved seems unstoppable and I think Italy had some chemistry problems earlier this year. I might be wrong though.

[TheValleyRaider]

We might have a better shot vs. Italy than against the Czechs. Nedved seems unstoppable and I think Italy had some chemistry problems earlier this year. I might be wrong though.

Italy's actually looked good in their leadup to the WC this time around, plus they always play strong defense. The Czechs are the newcomers here, despite their experience playing in Europe. I saw Nedved play once this season with Juventus (2nd leg of their CL Q'final vs. Arsenal) and he had a bad outing. Something like 6 offsides, then a Yellow in the late stages to cap it all off. Maybe he'll look better the second time I see him, but I'm not exactly crossing my fingers. :D

[blur2005]

Yeah, about Ghana...don't doubt them. Michael Essien is incredible.

The reason Brian Ching was picked was because if Twellman had made it, we would've had three smaller fowards with McBride. Ching is more of a force in the air than Twellman and about four inches taller. If McBride got hurt (which would be terrible) we would need someone like Ching.

I think we need to come out and at least force a draw with the Czechs to have any shot of advancing. Of course, the greatest irony is that if we get second in the group, we'll almost certainly face Brazil in the first round of the knock-out phase. I don't think any team's road is tougher than ours.

[TheValleyRaider]

Yeah, about Ghana...don't doubt them. Michael Essien is incredible.

Not doubting Ghana per se, any of the African sides are dangerous. But truthfully, if they're going to upset someone in this group, it's going to be one of the Europeans. I doubt the US overlooks Ghana given how recently they were considered the weak team in groups. Of course, given the example of Senegal-France from 2002, I can easily see Italy and the Czechs not overlooking them either. Any win they have would be an upset, I just don't see them as solid as the other teams in the group.

[Hansel]

Not doubting Ghana per se, any of the African sides are dangerous. But truthfully, if they're going to upset someone in this group, it's going to be one of the Europeans. I doubt the US overlooks Ghana given how recently they were considered the weak team in groups. Of course, given the example of Senegal-France from 2002, I can easily see Italy and the Czechs not overlooking them either. Any win they have would be an upset, I just don't see them as solid as the other teams in the group.
I work with a bunch of Europeans and I bought the EASports World Cup Vid Game last week... can't wait until this summer :)