USSoccer.com
PORTLAND, Ore. --- Former Portland men’s soccer standouts Steve Cherundolo and Heath Pearce have both been named to the U.S. National Team’s 30-man preliminary roster for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, announced by head coach Bob Bradley. From this list, a squad of 23 players must be chosen by June 1 for the final roster that will travel to South Africa.
The 30 players will begin reporting to Princeton, N.J., on May 15 for the start of training camp, with field sessions beginning two days later.
Cherundolo and Pearce are both defenders and both have extensive international experience. Cherundolo (1997-98) has more than 50 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. Pearce (2002-04) plays professionally for FC Dallas of the MLS and he has 28 career caps.
The U.S. will face two of the traditionally stronger teams from Europe in the Czech Republic (May 25) and Turkey (May 29). The match against the Czech Republic will take place in East Hartford, Conn., and will be broadcast live on ESPN and Galavision. The final home tune-up match against Turkey will be played at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia and will be shown live on ESPN2 and Galavision.
“Throughout the past three years a number of players have contributed to our journey toward South Africa and we appreciate all of their efforts,” said Bradley. “We are very excited to get this group together to begin our pre-World Cup training camp as we continue to prepare for the challenge of the World Cup.”
The U.S. team will depart for South Africa on May 30, arriving the following day. The United States will play Australia on June 5 in Roodepoort, South Africa, one week before playing its first match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
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. TRAINING CAMP ROSTER BY POSITION
GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton)
DEFENDERS (9): Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Jay DeMerit (Watford), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)
MIDFIELDERS (12): DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers), Alejandro Bedoya (Örebro), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Stuart Holden (Bolton), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), José Torres (Pachuca)
FORWARDS (6): Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Edson Buddle (Los Angeles Galaxy), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Herculez Gomez (Puebla), Eddie Johnson (Aris Thessaloniki)
