US Ready for Barbados

Road to World Cup Begins Sunday

June 10, 2008

Clint Dempsey and the US will face Barbados this Sunday.

The U.S. team arrived into Los Angeles on Monday and will begin training Tuesday at U.S. Soccer’s National Training Center. The second leg of the series will be played on June 22 in Barbados.

The roster largely resembles the team that battled No. 1-ranked Argentina to a 0-0 draw on June 8 at Giants Stadium, with 19 of 21 players selected from that group, including former Rev and current Fulham striker Clint Dempsey. U.S. captain Carlos Bocanegra returns to the fold, while Houston Dynamo striker Brian Ching has also been added to the mix.

All told, there are 13 players on the roster with experience in World Cup qualifying. Landon Donovan, who became the fourth youngest male player in history to reach 100 caps when he went 90 minutes against Argentina, leads the roster with 20 all-time World Cup qualifying appearances.

The U.S. and Barbados have only met twice before in their history, the matches taking place in the Semifinal Round of 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying in a group that also included Guatemala and Costa Rica. The U.S. dominated both matches, winning, 7-0, on Aug. 16, 2000, in Foxborough, Mass., before cruising to a 4-0 victory in the final group match on Nov. 15, a win that booked the USA’s passage to the final stage.

U.S. Men’s National Team vs. Barbados Roster by Postion

GOALKEEPERS (3): Dominic Cervi (out of contract: 0/0), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA: 0/0), Tim Howard (Everton FC: 3/2 SO)

DEFENDERS (7): Carlos Bocanegra (out of contract: 11/1), Dan Califf (FC Midtjylland: 1/0), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96: 14:0), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC: 0/0), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew: 11/1), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege: 7/0), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock: 0/0)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Freddy Adu (SL Benfica: 0/0), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers: 14/4), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen: 0/0), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC: 0/0), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA: 0/0), Eddie Lewis (Derby County: 17/2), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids: 9/0)

FORWARDS (4): Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo: 6/2), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy: 20/7), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC: 7/0), Eddie Johnson (Fulham FC: 7/7)

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