Keepers – The first two are obvious, Howard & Guzan are the starting keeper and the heir-apparent. Now seeing as how there are only 4 other keepers who been called up in the past 2 years, and all of them play in MLS, I could see us only calling up 2 keepers. But for arguments sake, lets say they call another, which means the choice are probably 1 of 2 guys; U-20 player and Southampton youth player Cody Cropper, or Steve Clark who plays for Honefoss in Norway. If one gets called (and its pretty unlikely) I’ll guess it will be Cropper.
· Tim Howard
· Brad Guzan
· Cody Cropper
Defense - This would’ve been easy 2 months ago, but with Goodson & Bocanegra back in MLS, it might get a little interesting. Reports have surfaced about John Anthony Brooks being a sure thing, a good performance her would put him right in the mix for a World Cup spot. Geoff Cameron is pretty much a lock. Chandler seems a certainty provided he is healthy. Other choices are really up in the air based on health, but here’s what I’ve got. Ream will get his first looks since 2011 to shore up the backline. Fabian Johnson may play in the midfield but for arguments sake I’ll list him here. Parkhurst had a strong Gold Cup and merits another call-up. Steve Cherundolo is out with another knee surgery, Will Packwood is still recovering so I’m going to just list Alfredo Morales despite the fact that his teams have primarily play him at holding mid.
· John Anthony Brooks
· Geoff Cameron
· Timmy Chandler
· Fabian Johnson
· Michael Parkhurst
· Tim Ream
· Alfredo Morales
Midfield – Here comes the real class of this squad, all the regulars return, bolstered by the players who rocked out in the Gold Cup: Bradley, Jones, Kljestan, Bedoya, & Diskerud. I predict the return of Danny Williams who is preparing with new club Reading for a new season. Joseph Gyau has yet to represent the national team, but Gyau played on the youth squads and was called into camp for the Russia game. The last spot I’m going to give to Bayern Munich youth product Julian Green.
· Michael Bradley
· Jermaine Jones
· Sacha Kljestan
· Alejandro Bedoya
· Mix Diskerud
· Danny Williams
· Joe Gyau
· Julian Green
Strikers – Jozy is the obvious first team choice. Aron Johannsson should be on this roster (provided the paperwork gets cleared), his season with AZ started with a goal and an assist this weekend. Boyd has 3 goals thus far in for Rapid Wien’s 2013-2014 campaign. The other two should be Bobby Wood, who was listed on the preliminary Gold Cup roster but didn’t make the final team, and Andrew Wooten who has played very well in the German 2nd Division.
· Jozy Altidore
· Aron Johannsson
· Terrence Boyd
· Bobby Wood
· Andrew Wooten
Alternates/Dark Horses - Sebastian Lletget, Conor O’Brien, Zak Whitbread, Eric Lichaj, Brian Span, Steve Clark, Charlie Davies
Honestly these are all shots in the dark, many of these alternates have never received a call up or haven’t been in awhile. Lichaj and Lletget have the strongest chances. There is a strong possibility that coach only calls 18 and leaves off some regular starters like Jones and Bradley. If Johansson is eligible I see Altidore not making the trip at all, he does begin Sunderland’s EPL campaign just a few days later, so he might need to stay in their camp to fight for his job.
Well that’s pretty much it. Once the rosters are out I will make predictions about the line-ups and game results. Also stay tuned for the next edition of the Pint for the Pitch podcast where we will do a full pregame special about the match.
P4TP