U.S. Confederations Cup - Squad Breakdown

Coach Bob Bradley and the USMNT will head into Confederations Cup 2009 carrying a mostly identical roster to those seen during recent World Cup Qualifiers. Exceptions coming in the form of Houson Dynamo forward Brian Ching who was left off the squad due to lingering injury issues. Also not making the jump from qualifiers to the Cup squad is veteran midfielder Pablo Mastroeni who was pulled at halftime of the the teams game against Costa Rica after having little impact and looking visibly tired.

As usual Everton guardian Tim Howard will be handling primary net duties and providing his normal vocal leadership to the players in front of him. He will be fronted in the center of defense by team captain Carlos Bocanegra and usual partner, Oguchi Onyewu. Certainly no surprises there. On their flanks will be two Jonathans; Spector and Bornstein. After the abject disaster of Marvell Wynne and DaMarcus Beasley against Costa Rica, Bradley made the move to the more traditional pair. Spector brings a sense of positional defense that has been lacking in the team. His service, though not spectacular, is certainly an upgrade over other options. As seen in the game against Honduras, Spector also brings the added bonus of a natural chemistry when it comes to linking up with midfielder Clint Dempsey. Its not unlikely this is a result of both players plying their trade in the English Premier League.

Jonathan Bornstein was coached by Bob Bradley during his time as coach of Chivas USA in MLS prior to taking the USMNT post. Bornstein offers a mix of attack with superior defensive cover than was seen by Beasley during his failed experiment in defense. It shouldn't be overlooked that Bornstein has shut down FC Barcelona and emerging world star Lionel Messi in the past. Watford man Jay Demerit brings a steadiness to the back line reserves. He also brings a bit of a physical edge to his play, no doubt a result from his extended time playing in England where physicality is a must. Danny Califf has been a long time favorite of Bradley's. In recent months club play has not been kind to Danny, but he has been reliable in most of his past national team appearances.

Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey will play their usual pseudo-forward roles from midfield. Coaches son Michael Bradley will hold down the center of the pitch as usual while a revolving door cast take their shots at grabbing hold of the open spot next to him. The list of contenders seems to grow by the day with nobody really able to step up and really take possession of the role. MLS vet Ricardo clark had a highly impressive performance against Honduras. He gave a total box-to-box effort and showed up in attack and played a part in two vital defensive plays. Halftime sub Benny Feilhaber looked electric in his 45 minutes against Honduras, spraying accurate passes to teammates and bringing in some lacking creative spark. Longtime international DaMarcus Beasley will move out of defense where he looked completely lost and take his place on the midfield flanks as usual. For all his time in the first team, Beasley has not looked impressive for quite some time and needs a solid performance. Mexican Leaguer Jose Francisco Torres brings tight passing and a cracking left-footed shot. Creatively he may be the best of the midfield pieces, but because of his slighter build he lacks that physical bite that Bradley covets in his midfielders. Chivas USA's Sacha Kljestan spent parts of the past year scoring a hat trick for the USMNT against Sweden, watching his oversees stock soar, and waiting for the seemingly inevitable move to Europe. That move never came and some would say Kljestan let the speculation bring his play down to a very pedestrian level. There are never questions of effort for Sacha, who will run until he falls over, but his passing has been suspect and offensively he looks a non-threat. The ever-hyped Freddy Adu has made the trip to South Africa. Talented, but highly frustrating, Adu has received very little game time during his time playing in Portugal and France. He has shown in the past that he brings a lot of technical skill that is not found in the rest of the U.S. team, but his lack of defense and overall consistency has prevented him from becoming the superstar he was so often predicted to be as the 14 year old number one pick of MLS some six years ago.

The key to the Yanks success in this competition could likely come down to the showing they receive from the players up front. Youngster Jozy Altidore has all the size and natural skills, but has played next to no first team football since moving to Spain. He did manage a hat trick recently against CONCACAF rivals Trinidad and Tobago, but even then did not look like a world beater. Jozy's future looks very promising, but he needs to be a present threat to opposing defenses if the Americans want to have much success here. MLS golden boot leader Connor Casey bring size and strength to the attacking corps as he fills in for the injured Brian Ching. In his dry run against Honduras, Casey never looked a threat on goal but he did work hard and provide some space for Altidore. Charlie Davies is a bit of an enigma for the U.S. Playing his club ball for Hammarby in Sweden, Davies is young and extremely athletic. He left the States to play abroad as a rough product, but has polished himself into a dangerous attacking force... in Sweden. Charlie has yet to receive any real committed game run from Bradley, so its hard to say how he will fair in this competition should he play. But he unquestionably brings pace that no other U.S. striker can boast.