A look back at the first qualifier in the last two WC cycles...

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The team you see on Friday and Tuesday

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FIFY


and good analysis

Captain America?

I agree with this list

My wishlist assuming these players develop into WC caliber:

Ream
Cameron
Shea
Boyd
Gyau
Lichaj (should be on the roster now)

I'm not worried until the next round of qualifiers. We will get through the first stage.

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Seems like the WC isn't far enough away for us to bring a bunch of new guys into the squad, but I guess that's not the case.

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I just saw everyone melting down over Castillo and Onyewu (and Edu's) play over the past week.

It's just a reminder that it's a process.

Danny Szetela and John Thorrington played in the return leg against Barbados, BTW.

Everybody keep your skirts on.

Following up with the OP, here is some more food for thought regarding 2010 (the ones who made the squad are in bold).

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1 - Matt Reis
2 - Frankie Hejduk
3 - Carlos Bocanegra
4 - Pablo Mastroeni
5 - Oguchi Onyewu
6 - Steve Cherundolo
7 - Eddie Lewis
8 - Clint Dempsey
9 - Eddie Johnson
10 - Landon Donovan
11 - Brian Ching
12 - Michael Bradley
13 - Maurice Edu
14 - Danny Califf
15 - Heath Pearce
16 - Freddy Adu
17 - DaMarcus Beasley
18 - Brad Guzan

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The actual squad (the ones who didn't start qualifying are in bold):

Forwards
• Jozy Altidore, Villareal (Spain) (pictured)
• Edson Buddle, Los Angeles Galaxy
• Robbie Findley, Real Salt Lake
• Herculez Gomez, Pachuca (Mexico)

Midfielders
• DaMarcus Beasley, Rangers (Scotland)
• Michael Bradley, Moenchengladbach (Germany)
• Ricardo Clark, Frankfurt (Germany)
• Clint Dempsey, Fulham (England)
• Landon Donovan, Los Angeles Galaxy
• Maurice Edu, Rangers (Scotland)
• Benny Feilhaber, Aarhus (Denmark)
• Stuart Holden, Bolton (England)
• Jose Torres, Pachuca (Mexico)

Defenders
• Carlos Bocanegra, Rennes (France) (captain)
• Jonathan Bornstein, Chivas USA
• Steve Cherundolo, Hannover (Germany)
• Jay DeMerit, Watford (England)
• Clarence Goodson, IK Start (Norway)
• Oguchi Onyewu, AC Milan (Italy)
• Jonathan Spector, West Ham (England)

Goaltenders
• Brad Guzan, Aston Villa (England)
• Marcus Hahnemann, Wolverhampton (England)
• Tim Howard, Everton (England)

So it looks like we added ALL OF OUR FORWARDS and a few starters in defense and some good subs in midfield AFTER we started qualifying.

Here is even more food for thought: A 2010 WC Roster Prediction from late 2007

They got all of the "sure things" correct and most of the "safe bets." The safe bets who didn't make the squad in the end were Bobby Convey, Frank Simek, Eddie Johnson, and Freddy Adu. The first two missing the squad can be attributed to injuries seriously impeding their careers, while the latter two dealt with unsettled club situations.

None of the people who were thought to be "battling" for spots on the team actually made the squad except for Hahnemann.

I just deleted that entire post.


I was just looking at the first 2010 World Cup Qualifying game and I think for the most part. You had a lot of awesome players coming up for the US and you had a feeling that'd they'd start just because they'd be in their mature/prime age. Bocanegra, Donovan, Dempsey, Howard, Onyewu, Cherundolo, etc.

This year. . it's going to be tough to pick out our roster because Dempsey, Goodson, Howard(doesn't really count), Donovan, Cherundolo, Onyewu, are all going to be borderline too old. Everyone knew that Maestroni, Eddie Lewis, Hejduk. Probably wouldn't make the cut in 2010.


Our core group right now has a shite ton of caps. It's changing of the old guard this WC Qualifying period. It's going to be tough for Klinsmann. IMO.

I'm not sure if these guys will make the WC:

Dempsey, Donovan, Boca, Cherundolo, Onyewu, Howard, Gomez, Buddle, Jones, Beckerman

These guys will have to step up:

Gonzalez, Ream, Gatt, Cameron, Boyd, Altidore, Adu, Edu, Holden, Johnson, Williams, Kitchens, Bojev, Pelosi, Bradley, Corona, Castillo, Bunbury, Agudelo, Shea and Lichaj.