KEEPERS
Tim Howard - Everton - A staple in net for the Americans, the 33 year old Everton netminder just wrapped up another solid season in the English Premier League. Howard played every minute of all 38 regular season games for Everton posting a record of 15-12-11 while contributing 12 clean sheets as Everton finished the year in 7th place. Howard last appeared for the National Team in the 1-0 upset win over Italy in February. He has 73 appearances and 26 shutouts in his international career.
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Brad Guzan - Aston Villa - The 27 year old Guzan saw his first extended action for Aston Villa's first team this year when starting keeper Shay Given was injured in December. Guzan made 6 Premier League starts in Given's absence and turned in wins against Bolton and Chelsea, as well as a scoreless draw against Stoke City. While his 2-3-1 mark as a starter might not seem impressive, it should be noted that Villa only won 7 games all season. Guzan has made 19 career appearances for the U.S. Men's Senior National Team, last taking the field in the U.S.'s 1-0 win over South Africa in November of 2010.
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| Photo Credit: zimbio.com |
Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake - In the midst of his sixth season as Real Salt Lake's starting keeper, the 32 year old Rimando is enjoying yet another solid campaign in MLS. In 12 matches this year, he has posted a record of 8-3-1 allowing just 12 goals and currently has his club atop the Western Conference standings. Rimando played the opening 45 minutes in the U.S.'s 1-0 win over Panama in January and has made 6 career appearances for the Senior National Team.
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| Photo Credit: zimbio.com |
DEFENDERS
Carlos Bocanegra - Rangers - The U.S. captain turns 33 on Friday, but is still going strong. Bocanegra joined Rangers (Scotland) in August and helped the club to a second place finish despite their 10 point deduction due to financial issues. Boca scored a pair of goals and had a pair of assists during the season and also scored a goal in Europa League play. In his international career, the former MLS Rookie of the Year has appeared in 101 games for the U.S. scoring 12 goals, the most recent one coming in a friendly against the Netherlands in March of 2010.
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| Photo Credit: sportinglife.com |
Geoff Cameron - Houston Dynamo - The 6'3" Cameron is anchoring the Dynamo backline once again starting all ten games for a defense that has allowed just eleven goals. Cameron scored a career high 5 goals in 2011 while helping lead the Dynamo to the MLS Cup Finals. Cameron's play last season got the attention of Jurgen Klinsmann and he was added to the U.S. squad for friendlies against Venezuela and Panama in January. Cameron started both games, but was ejected early in the second half against Panama when he was ruled to have committed a foul as the last defender. Cameron has 3 career appearances for the National Team.
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| Photo Credit: bleacherreport.com |
Edgar Castillo - Club Tijuana - The 25 year old Castillo has appeared for both Mexico and the United States at the International Level. After 3 years with Club América, spent mostly on loan, Castillo joined Club Tijuana in November and started all 17 regular season games of the 2012 Torneo Clausura as well as both of Club Tijuana's postseason games and totaled two assists. Castillo made his U.S. National Team debut in 2009 and made a pair of starts last summer after Klinsmann took over as head coach.
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| Photo Credit: mlssoccer.com |
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover 96 - At 33 years old, Cherundolo is certainly on the backside of his international career, but at the moment, he's still one of the top wing backs in the U.S. player pool. The current captain at German club Hannover 96 where has spent the past 14 seasons, Cherundolo helped his team to a 7th place finish in the Bundesliga earning them a spot in Europa League Qualifying. Cherundolo made 22 starts during the regular season for Hannover and also started and played a full 90 minutes in the U.S.'s 1-0 win over Italy in February. He has appeared in 79 games for the U.S. in his career and has scored a pair of goals.
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| Photo Credit: mlssoccer.com |
Clarence Goodson - Brøndby - The 30 year old Goodson has started 30 games for Brøndby as they fight to avoid relegation from the Danish Superliga. Goodson has scored a pair of goals this season and his squad currently sits in 9th place (out of 12). The 6'4" center back made 10 appearances for the U.S. in 2011 and turned in a solid 90 minutes at the back in the win over Italy in February. In his career, Goodson has played in 28 games for the U.S. and has scored 3 times including a goal against Panama during the 2011 Gold Cup.
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| Photo Credit: bleacherreport.com |
Alfredo Morales - Hertha Berlin - The 22 year old Morales made his debut with Hertha Berlin's first team in December of 2010 and made 8 appearances for the club this past season including a pair of starts. Morales also made an appearance for the U.S. U-23s in their 2-0 win over Mexico, but was left off the Olympic Qualifying roster when Hertha Berlin would not release him while struggling to avoid relegation. Morales is still awaiting his first action with the Senior National Team. He is also eligible to play internationally for Peru.
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| Photo Credit: herthabsc.de |
Oguchi Onyewu - Sporting Lisbon - The 30 year old known as 'Gooch' suffered through yet another injury plagued season this year missing over 2 months after suffering a knee injury. Once a fixture on the backline for the U.S., the 6'4" Onyewu appeared in just 4 games for the U.S. in 2011, but appears to be healthy again making a pair of starts for Sporting to close out the regular season. Gooch finished the year with 4 goals in 10 league matches including a brace in a 2-0 win over Beira Mar on January 29th. He has appeared in 62 games for the National Team scoring 6 goals.
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| Photo Credit: blogs.bettor.com |
Michael Parkhurst - Nordsjælland - With just two games remaining in the 2011-12 Danish Superliga season, Parkhurst and Nordsjælland are holding onto a two point leading over defending champions F.C. Copenhagen. Parkhurst has started 29 games for the league leaders and scored his first overseas goal in this his fourth season with his Danish club. The 28 year old former MLS Rookie of the Year (2005), made a pair of appearances for the National Team in January after not seeing the pitch for the stars and stripes in 2011. Parkhurst played all 90 minutes anchoring the defense in the wins against both Venezuela and Panama giving him 11 career appearances with the senior national team.
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| Photo Credit: fcn.dk |
MIDFIELDERS
Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake - The 30 year old Beckerman is in the midst of his 13th season in MLS and his 6th with Real Salt Lake. In 13 games this season, he has scored 3 goals matching his 2011 total and has played a large role in leading Real atop the Western Conference Standings. Beckerman made 5 starts for the U.S. in 2011 giving him 18 appearances with the Senior National Team. He scored his only international goal in the 2009 Gold Cup Quarterfinals against Panama netting the equalizer in a game won by the U.S. 2-1 in extra time.
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| Photo Credit: bleacherreport.com |
Michael Bradley - Chievo Verona - The 24 year old Bradley had a tremendous showing in his debut season in Italy appearing in 35 Serie A matches, 34 of them starts, and finishing with a goal and an assist. Already an established member of the National Team, Bradley quieted a lot of doubters who thought he only had a spot because he was the coach's son. He's scored 9 goals for the U.S. in 64 matches including 5 goals during 2010 World Cup Qualifying, 1 against Egypt at the 2009 Confederations Cups, 1 at the 2010 World Cup against Slovenia, and 1 against Mexico in the 2011 Gold Cup Final.
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| Photo Credit: bleacherreport.com |
Joe Corona - Club Tijuana - The 21 year old Corona scored 4 goals during Olympic Qualifying including a hat trick against Cuba, but his U-23 squad was eliminated after a loss to Canada and a last-second draw with El Salvador. Still, Corona had a solid season in the 2012 Torneo Clausura scoring a pair of goals for Club Tijuana in 16 appearances featuring primarily on the wing. Corona is still looking for his first appearance with the Senior National Team.
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| Photo Credit: sbnation.com |
Maurice Edu - Rangers - The 26 year old Edu just wrapped up his 4th season with Rangers appearing in 35 Scottish Premier League games scoring 3 goals and tallying 4 assists. Edu appeared in a career high 12 games with the National Team in 2011 and played a full 90 minutes in the win over Italy this February. Edu has made 32 appearances with the National Team dating back to 2007 scoring his only goal in a friendly against the Czech Republic leading up to the 2010 World Cup.
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| Photo Credit: dailymail.co.uk |
Fabian Johnson - Hoffenheim - The 24 year old German-born Johnson started his international career with Germany's youth national teams appearing at the U-19, U-20 and U-21 levels. Johnson joined TSG 1899 Hoffenheim this season after two years with VfL Wolfsburg. Able to play in the midfield or in the back, Johnson appeared in 30 games for his German club in the Bundesliga scoring twice and picking up four assists. He made his U.S. National Team debut in November as a substitute against France and then started in the ensuing wins against Slovenia and Italy.
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| Photo Credit: bleacherreport.com |
Jermaine Jones - Schalke 04 - The hot tempered Jones earned 15 yellow cards and a red card in 31 matches for Schalke 04 across all competitions this past season. The 30 year old German born midfielder Jones debuted with the U.S. National Team in 2010 and appeared in 12 games in 2011 scoring his first international goal against Jamaica during the Gold Cup. Jones earned his stripes under Jurgen Klinsmann during friendlies against Venezuela and Panama this January when he was arguably the best player on the field and even assisted on Ricardo Clark's 97th minute game winner against the Venezuelans.
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| Photo Credit: sportsillustrated.cnn.com |
Jose Torres - Pachuca - Torres has sort of fallen off the National Team radar after making the 2010 World Cup Squad appearing in just 3 games in 2011, but he's back in camp under Klinsmann. Torres is coming off a solid season for Pachuca, his sixth year with the Mexican club, in which he started 18 games and had 3 assists leading the team to a 6th place regular season finish in the 2012 Torneo Clausura before losing in the first round of the playoffs. Torres has made 14 career appearances for the U.S., but is still in search of his first international goal.
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| Photo Credit: televisadeportes.esmas.com |
Danny Williams - Hoffenheim - Williams joined Hoffenheim in August after spending the previous season with SC Freiburg and finally established himself as a regular contributor. Williams made 27 appearances for his German club across all competitions including 19 starts and tallied one assist. He debuted with the National Team in 2011 under Klinsmann and turned in a solid 90 minute shift in the win over Italy.
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Graham Zusi - Sporting Kansas City - The 25 year old Zusi ranks second in MLS in assists right now with six and his play has been a big reason for Sporting KC's fast start this season. The former Maryland Terrapin needs just one more assist to tie his career high of 7 set last year. Zusi received his first National Team call-up in January netting the game winning goal against Panama and making a pair of starts in the central midfield.
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| Photo Credit: sportingkc.com |
FORWARDS
Juan Agudelo - Chivas USA - Agudelo scored in back-to-back appearances for the U.S. U-23s this spring, but was injured in the opening match of Olympic Qualifying and the offense struggled to score without him. Still only 19, Agudelo recently experienced a change of scenery getting traded from the New York Red Bulls to Chivas USA. The Colombian born striker had been struggling for consistent playing time in New York so the change should benefit him as Chivas has struggled offensively this season. Agudelo already has 15 appearances for the Senior National Team scoring a pair of goals. He is still looking to make his 2012 Senior National Team debut.
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| Photo Credit: nj.com |
Jozy Altidore - AZ Alkmaar - Altidore is coming off of his best season as a pro scoring 19 goals in 47 matches for his Dutch club. The 22 year old striker's strong play in the Netherlands has correlated to improved play at the National Team level as he scored his 13th career international goal in November against Slovenia and he assisted on Clint Dempsey's game winner against Italy in February. Altidore finished second on the team in scoring in 2011 with 3 goals and now has 46 career appearances for the U.S.
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| Photo Credit: msn.foxsports.com |
Terrence Boyd - Borussia Dortmund - Boyd scored 20 goals for the Bundesliga Champion's B-Team this year, but the 21 year old striker is still looking for his first appearance for the first team. Despite that, Boyd has been making a name for himself stateside debuting for the Senior National Team as a substitute in the win over Italy and scoring a pair of goals for the U-23s during Olympic Qualifying, both of them against El Salvador.
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| Photo Credit: mlssoccer.com |
Clint Dempsey - Fulham - Arguably the hottest player for the U.S. right now, Dempsey just wrapped up an historic campaign in England setting a U.S. record with 17 goals in the Premier League and 23 across all competitions for the Cottagers. Dempsey netted hat tricks in both the FA Cup versus Charlton and in the Premier League versus Newcastle and scored two or more goals five times. The U.S.'s leading scorer in 2011 with 5 goals, Dempsey shows no signs of slowing down in 2012, already scoring the game winner against the Italians in Italy back in February giving him 25 goals in 83 career National Team appearances.
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| Photo Credit: talksport.co.uk |
Landon Donovan - LA Galaxy - After a strong stint in England while on loan to Everton (6 assists in 9 matches), Donovan and the Galaxy have struggled out of the gates in MLS this year. Still, Captain America is a no brainer to make this team as Jurgen Klinsmann will hopefully be able to put him and Clint Dempsey on the field together for the first time during his tenure. The U.S.'s all time leading scorer has 46 goals in 138 career appearances. In addition to that, Donovan is just 4 assists shy of 100 in his MLS career.
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| Photo Credit: mls.theoffside.com |
Herculez Gomez - Santos - The 30 year old Gomez scored in 8 consecutive matches for Santos FC between February 26th and April 4th thrusting him back into the National Team picture. Gomez hasn't suited up for the U.S. since 2010, but his clinical finishing has made his selection a no brainer. In his career, Gomez has 8 appearances for the U.S., scoring a pair of goals in tuneups for the 2010 World Cup.
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| Photo Credit: theoriginalwinger.com |
Chris Wondolowski - San Jose Earthquakes - MLS's leading scorer this season, the 29 year old Wondolowski is a one-man wrecking crew for the Quakes scoring 11 of the club's 23 goals this year. Over the past three seasons, there hasn't been a more deadly finisher in MLS as Wondo has netted 45 goals during that span. While that hasn't yet translated to success for the National Team (0 goals in 7 appearances), his work in MLS hasn't gone unnoticed, and his ability to move without the ball and be in the right place at the right time has earned him this spot in camp.
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| Photo Credit: sjearthquakes.com |
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