U.S. nat'l team facing a heavy load

By Ridge Mahoney, Special to SI.com, Soccer America

With World Cup qualifying, the Confederations Cup and Gold Cup, Carlos Bocanegra (3) and the U.S. play at least 16 official games in '09. Victor Decolongon/Getty Images

The men's national team embarks on a very busy 2009 with a lot of players in contention for spots on the 2010 World Cup roster. There's a full slate of games on tap, but something less than a full plate of players.

The Americans will play at least 16 competitive matches in '09, and probably more -- that number includes only the 10 games from the Hexagonal final round of World Cup qualifying (kicking off Feb. 11 vs. Mexico) and three games apiece in the group phases of the Confederations Cup (beginning June 15) and the CONCACAF Gold Cup (beginning July 3). Only in '05, when the U.S. reached and won the Gold Cup final, and thus played six competitive matches in addition to the 10 Hexagonal games, has the U.S. team been handed an equivalent load.

Across the board, the U.S. has plenty of candidates for national-team positions. Yet there's no assurance the 2010 World Cup squad, assuming qualification, will be either stronger or deeper than the '06 edition.

"I'd say that after the last 12 months there are certain guys that have played well with their clubs and have moved up," says coach Bob Bradley, who lists Oguchi Onyewu and Carlos Bocanegra in that category. "There are guys who in the past year have established themselves to the point you know what they bring and what they're about and that's positive. There's other guys you're constantly assessing in terms of where they fit in [now] and going forward."

This rundown assumes these definites, barring injury: Tim Howard, Brad Guzan, Bocanegra, Onyewu, Jonathan Spector, Steve Cherundolo, Pablo Mastroeni, Michael Bradley, DaMarcus Beasley, Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan. The probables, 18 months out, are Jozy Altidore, Jimmy Conrad, Charlie Davies, Maurice Edu, Frankie Hejduk and Heath Pearce. That leaves everybody else, including Freddy Adu, Marvell Wynne, Kenny Cooper, Eddie Johnson, Ricardo Clark and Sacha Kljestan, among others, on the bubble.

That list totals 23 players, and doesn't include a third goalkeeper, so at least one prominent name won't be on the 23-man squad in 2010, assuming qualification. If promising youngsters Michael Orozco and José Francisco Torres are thrown into the mix, there are too many pieces to fit into this puzzle. (See the depth chart on the next page.)

Forwards

Ever since Brian McBride retired from the senior national team after the '06 World Cup the search has been on for his replacement. That search continues. It isn't likely to find a perfect fit, since McBride embodied a rugged, relentless, resilient forward of solid build, capable feet, aerial prowess and unquenchable spirit.

Brian Ching has many of the same qualities and will be only 32 in 2010; thus he has a decent shot at repeating his '06 representation. But he didn't play two years ago and is a backup at best.

The search also continues for a forward talented and prolific enough to offer Bradley the option of using Donovan in midfield. What the process has produced is a fleet of promising young players cut from different molds, none of whom may be fully ready for World Cup rigors in 2010, but are additional options to Donovan, Dempsey and perhaps Ching.

At age 19, Altidore is still very much a work in progress and should come back from his first Spanish season at Villarreal a much smarter and sharper player, no matter how many games he gets. He gives the U.S. a muscular presence up front and is learning how to use his size and power to maximum effect. But he lacks seasoning and will be only 20 at the World Cup, so American fans shouldn't expect the world from him.

So far, Davies seems to be following the ideal track for a young American striker: Get out of college, head for Europe, sign with a good team, play well at the Olympics, improve in the second pro season and perhaps move up to a bigger challenge. The 14 goals he scored in '08 for Swedish club Hammarby drew interest from French club Sochaux, among others. He can go at defenders with confidence and also get in behind them at speed. Regular time in the Hexagonal and selection for one of the summer tournaments should move him along the curve nicely.