Oscar de la Hoya to wear Dynamo orange at Saturday night fight, Tony Meola becomes an elementary school principal

While his team is taking on Chivas USA in Houston, Oscar de la Hoya will wear Dynamo orange as he fights Steve Forbes at the Home Depot Center near LA.

"Since this is my first fight as part owner of the Dynamo, I thought it would be fitting to represent the team by wearing their 'forever orange' color as a part of my ring outfit Saturday night," said De La Hoya, who will also be wearing a Dynamo team patch on his shorts. "They are actually playing the same night I am fighting and I have a great feeling we will both come out victorious."

For De La Hoya's sake, he might what to show a better attack then the Dynamo have this season.

But joke comment aside, hopefully this will be mentioned before and during the fight. One of the pluses of having someone lake De La Hoya as an owner is the cross promotion that should happen.

In other news, former US goalkeeper Tony Meola has a new job, principal of Rafael Hernandez Performing Arts Elementary School. Starting this Friday, Meola will decide who gets detention, what is proper school attire and how to stop the outbreak of gum chewing.

Okay, I might be going a bit overboard as Meola will only hold the position for a few hours while taking part in the Newark Public Schools System's 12th Annual Principal for a Day Program.

Rumor has it that he turned down a request by Bruce Arena to serve Sloppy Joes at lunch.

Bruce Arena - I'm a builder; US will not win 2010 World Cup

Four months into his retirement, former US and New York Red Bull boss Bruce Arena has some thoughts about his time in NY and his legacy.

As far as Red Bull is concerned, he enjoyed it but he doesn't think they gave him the time needed to succeed. "He simply wishes they had shown a little more patience with their soccer team, as he was given just over a year to turn around a team that had very little going for it before he took over in August 2006."

He points to roster changes he made and the fact that the team had a winning season along with a playoff berth as proof that he was moving the club forward. In addition, he changed the structure of the league by adding a Technical Director, which other teams are now doing as well.

Overall, it is hard to argue that Arena had anything less then a good 2007 season with the team. Sure, there were some questionable choices (bringing in Reyna is the big one), but it can be argued that the play of Juan Pablo Angel and Jozy Altidore offset such things. But Red Bull was looking for great, not good.

On international matters, he thinks the unsung hero of US national soccer is Dan Flynn because without him US soccer would have gone bust after the 1998 World Cup.

I’ll tell you that one guy who has never gotten his due and deserves it is [U.S. Soccer CEO and Secretary General] Dan Flynn. He has done a phenomenal job getting that organization back on its feet financially. It was a mess. Today, people are reaping the benefits from it.

In ’98, U.S. Soccer had about a year of financial survival left. And when Dan came in back in 2000, he did an absolutely phenomenal job and he’s made that organization what it is on the financial side. He deserves a lot of credit.

So could this be a bit of a backhand to Sunil Gulati? Since Arena also talks about how he built up the team on the pitch where does that leave the US Soccer President? Perhaps just cheering on the team as some sort of great or super fan.

Although Arena likes the progress the game has made in the US, he feels the size makes it difficult to develop players as it would be easier to have a unified evaluation environment with a smaller country.

Also, he wants to make something very clear, “the United States is not going to win the World Cup in 2010.” And the rest of the world says, "no, really?"

Finally, it looks like Arena might be trying out for Setanta spokesman as he cannot say enough nice things about the soccer station. "At home, I just got Setanta, as well. It’s absolutely great with all the games you get. It’s unbelievable, you get additional Champions League games, you get additional Premiership games and everything else you can imagine. It’s fantastic. ... The other day I watched Gregg Berhalter play in the German Cup game against Bayern Munich. It was fun to watch."

Maybe he could do an ad with John O'Brien.

Has Dave O'Brien called his last soccer match?

Dave O'Brien might be out of ESPN's booth if rumors from the MLS SuperDraft are to be believed. According to Soccer by Ives lead man, the buzz last night at the bar was a change a comin':

Another popular subject last night was word that Eric Wynalda and Dave O'Brien are being replaced as U.S. national team and major MLS game commentators for ESPN. A team of JP Dellacamera, Bruce Arena and John Harkes was being rumored to take over. Let me be the first to say that Dellacamera as national team play-by-play guy can't happen soon enough. He's the best in the business. Let me also say that the three-man booth model just doesn't work for soccer. Hopefully someone realizes this eventually. This hasn't been made official yet by ESPN though so stay tuned for confirmation.

Let me be as diplomatic about this as possible, 'it is about time.'

O'Brien is a talented sportscaster but his skills do not work well with soccer. As far as Eric Wynalda, he would do better as half-time host (or maybe his own show), because most of his call during games was more commentary on items not really related to the game in front of him.

What about the 'new' guys? JP Dellacamera is fantastic and will give the games the punch they need. John Harkes will bring a wonderful knowledge of the game to the booth. Bruce Arena, um, yeah.

I don't mean to hit Arena, but his time as a broadcaster has not been that spectacular. He does bring a huge amount of knowledge with him but he just doesn't have that great of a voice. Also, why is ESPN sticking with three in the booth? Have two in the booth, one on the pitch and a half-time analyst and everything is covered.

Still, if they go with Arena as the third, it will still be an improvement. As my wife said, "I can handle one million Arenas if it means no O'Brien!"

New York fires Bruce Arena

The New York Red Bulls have sacked Bruce Arena after the club failed in the first round of the MLS playoffs this past Saturday.

"We've made progress this season, but it is not where we want to be,” said Red Bull New York Managing Director Marc de Grandpre. “We made a promise to our fans to provide the best quality product on the field. Unfortunately, we haven’t achieved that promise to this point. Thus, we’ve come to a mutual agreement to part ways. I want to thank Bruce for his hard work. I am certain that he will have success in his future endeavors.”

In just a year and a half, Arena went 16-16-10 including going 12-11-7 this season.

The Red Bulls will start their search for a new coach immediately, which will be the fourth since Red Bull purchased the team in 2006.

So the Bruce is no looking for a job. Maybe the Women's national team will come calling.

Firing season is here, which MLS coaches are the hunted?

The regular season might be over but the firing season has just begun. So which coaches are safe and who has a target on their back? Let’s take a look and see.

First, those who are safe:

Tom Soehn (DC United since 2007) - Had some trouble early but regrouped the team and made them into a force. A late season let down is disappointing but nothing close to deserving a pink slip.

Preki (Chivas USA since 2007) - With all the issues Amado Guevara caused early, it would have been easy for this team to fall apart, but Preki made them into true title contenders.

Dominic Kinnear (Houston Dynamo since 2006) - Another wonderful year from Kinnear. He has dealt with injuries well and has built a good bench. The only way he leaves is if he decided to leave for San Jose.

Bruce Arena (New York Red Bulls since mid-2006) - Unless he is pushing to get the US Women's job, the Bruce is staying in New York. The pickup of Ángel and Mathis now looks genius and the development of Altidore is great. Even a bomb against New England wouldn't result in his dismissal.

Curt Onalfo (Kansas City Wizards since 2007) - If KC was a bit more established and not looking at so many off the pitch issues (stadium, attendance, publicity, etc), the late season crash would have moved Onalfo into the maybe, but not likely list. However, with things the way they are and a playoff berth in hand, he is here for another year, which is good because I think he will develop some serious talent over the next few seasons.

Mo Johnston (Toronto FC since 2007) - Yes, his team had no able to score goals but they played some of the most passionate soccer in the whole league. Had it not been for injuries, they might have snuck into the playoffs. For a first year club, Mo put together something impressive, now can he make it grow?

Juan Carlos Osorio (Chicago Fire since mid-2007) - He hasn't been around long enough to fire plus he has handled Blanco well and the team improved after his hire.

Jason Kreis (Real Salt Lake since mid-2007) - Much like Osorio, he hasn't been around enough to get tossed plus Real showed some great improvement under his leadership.


So those are the guys that seem to be completely safe, but what about the other five bosses? Most of them will stay but one or maybe are probably done. Here is the way I see the other five:

Fernando Clavijo (Colorado Rapids since 2005)
Reasons he will be fired: The Rapids played some of the most boring and uninspiring soccer in the whole league. They constantly underperformed and for the first time since 2001, failed to reach post season. Clavijo hasn't shown much in the way of player development. They will humiliated 5-0 by Seattle in the US Open Cup quarterfinals. With the new stadium, this team needs some excitement on the pitch to keep people coming back.

Reasons he will stay: Um, let's see, the past two coaches all got four seasons so Clavijo should get one more. And maybe the Rapids don't want to spend the money to bring in anyone else and change the system.

Prediction: If Clavijo is still the coach next season, it is proof that the Rapids organization doesn't care about the game.

Sigi Schmid (Columbus Crew since 2006)
Reasons he will be fired: For the fourth season in a row the Crew have missed the playoffs and ended up in sixth place in the East. Through out the season, the team suffered from a lack of control late in matches. They picked up pace with the introduction of Schelotto, but Sigi couldn't make it last.

Reasons he will stay: The Crew did show progress over last season and with a couple moves, could be a playoff team in 2008. Also, the Hunts who are much more focused on FC Dallas own the Crew.

Prediction: Schmid should be gone but he'll probably get a reprieve.

Frank Yallop (LA Galaxy since mid-2006)
Reasons he will be fired: Two seasons in a row without making the playoffs. Due to trades this year, the team is in a tight spot when it comes to the designated player rule next year. Hard to be a 'Super Club' when you have a losing record. Lalas needs to blame someone.

Reasons he will stay: The late season run showed what the team can do. Had a number of injury woes plus the schedule was against him. Has a better understanding of how to handle the team (and the press).

Prediction: Unless Lalas can land someone big (hello Klinsmann), Yallop will stay. That is unless he decides to head up the coast to San Jose instead.

Steve Morrow (FC Dallas since 2007)
Reasons he will be fired: The team has underperformed this year. They had a chance to win the US Open Cup but failed even with home pitch advantage. The Denilson acquisition has been a flop.

Reason he will stay: The Hunts want a winner but even they understand that a coach needs more then one season to make everything come together.

Prediction: Morrow will stay but if 2008 doesn't start strong, he will be gone by July.

Steve Nicol (New England since 2002)
Reason he will be fired: Can't get the team over the final hurdle to win a MLS Cup.

Reasons he will stay: The Revs have been one of the best teams in the league since his arrival. Finally won a trophy with the US Open Cup. Is excellent at spotting and developing young talent. Knows the US game better then just about any other coach in the league.

Prediction: It seems weird to fire a good coach, but FC Dallas did it last year after Colin Clarke won the West but failed to bring home the MLS Cup or US Open Cup. If the Revs get knocked out in the first couple rounds (or worse, make it to the Cup again and fail), the organization might decide they need someone else to finally win the big prize. Still, I would be very surprised if Nicol wasn't still on the sidelines next season.

Captain America is coming home

Former US captain Claudio Reyna will reunite with former US manager Bruce Arena in New York. This news comes as little shock to anyone who has paid attention to Reyna over the last few months and once news came yesterday that Manchester City had released Reyna from his contract, it was obvious that Arena would soon welcome the midfielder to the home of the Red Bulls.

Still, just because it is obvious, doesn't mean it is not news. Reyna, when healthy, can control a midfield like few others. His ability to force plays will give New York something they were missing last season. Still, Reyna is often injured these days, so who knows how many games he will actually get.

Even with his injuries, it is wonderful to have Reyna playing in the US for the first time since his college days.

US 3-1 Denmark

It has been a long time coming, but the US men returned to the win column yesterday in LA, however, that victory looked unlikely in the first 45.

Even with all the offense on the pitch, the US came out looking flat. Donovan was timid, Eddie Johnson was lost and the general intensity was very low. Denmark was able to take the ball again and again towards the American goal, but thankfully were denied good final chances.

When Denmark got the first goal, I was thinking it was going to be a long night, however, an extremely fortunate call gave us a penalty kick right before the half (yes, it was Ghana in reverse). Another dose of luck allowed Donovan's attempt to deflect off the keeper and into the net.

All tied at 1 going into the break.

Then there was the second half and the fresh faces started earning their keep. The second goal by Jonathan Bornstein was amazing, but it was Justin Mapp that did all the work. He beat six or seven defenders to place a great centering pass that Bornstein happen to get under. It really was a dream goal.

Finally, Kenny Cooper finished up the scoring with a great run and a smooth finish.

Wonderful work out there, but there is still much to do. The team was having trouble connecting passes, covering balls sent into the box and putting sustained pressure on Denmark's defense. If this is the team that shows up against Mexico, they will not walk away with a win.

That was the game, but lets talk about the commentary. I was happy to read in the comments that a number of people felt the same way about the Arena and Wynalda. It seemed like they were talking about everything except what was happening on the pitch. There was little play-by-play and even less explanation of how the team was trying to build up play. It's great that they can joke about so many insider things, however, those sort of things should only happen when play is stopped, not when the ball is in the opposition's third.

I do like that they were calling US Soccer out for the intern title in front of Bob Bradley's name, but even those taunts got old.

How difficult would it be to call the game that's happening in front of their eyes? It really is the only way they will attract viewers who know little about the game.

Anyway, it is great to have the US playing again. Next up, Mexico.

Bradley is the new boss, for now

Bob Bradley is the new coach of the US men's national team. However, this is only an interim appointment, as US Soccer will continue to look at other possible candidates for, blah, blah, blah.

Unless Bradley really screws up really, really big or someone very high profile decides that I want to coach the team and I'm find with having little control over things (ie. I'll take the paycheck in run "hello Sven, I'll put you right through"), it will probably be Bradley guiding the team into 2010.

Bradley is a very good coach and I can see him building well on Arena's success. Had this hire happened in July or August, I think people would have been fine with it, especially since his name was mentioned as a replacement for Arena well before the World Cup made the Bruce a 'loser' and Klinsmann 'the second coming.'

However, after a five-month search, ending up where you started does not look good.

That said, Bradley has a difficult task ahead of him. He has a team that has not been together in a long time and that has some obvious cracks in it. Will he be able to bring them together and motivate?

When Arena took over the job after the 1998 flop he faced similar problems and was able to worth through most of them. Hopefully during all those years assisting Arena at U of Virginia and DC United, Bradley learned some of his tricks. If his work on Chivas this past season (not to mention his time with Chicago) is an example of what we can expect, it should be an interesting ride.

The Bruce thinks next US manger should be American

Bruce Arena believes the US men's team needs a manager with a US passport (scroll half way down the article).

“There is no doubt in my mind about it,” Arena said in an interview. “This notion that you need a foreign coach — I’ll be very honest, our coaching staff prepared our team as well as it can be prepared. There is no foreign coach that could have done it any better.

“I know Sunil likes those quick-fix, fancy type of things, but there’s not a foreign coach that will do any better than an American coach, or what I did.”

Nothing like taking a swipe at your former boss in the process of discussing your successor. Anyway, agree or disagree with Arena, he does add a very realistic nugget concerning his replacement.

“I don’t think they will be able to attract a big-time coach. If they could, he would have been here already.”

The might just be the truest take on the current search. Most big name coaches will not be that interested in the US job. Playing for the Gold Cup just is not the same as playing for the European Cup. Until we have better competition in CONCACAF (and fire Jack Warner) and get more involved in South American competitions (if they invite us), the position of US coach is not that attractive to anyone at the top of their game.

That said, it could fit in perfectly with Jurgen Klinsmann, but even if he takes the job, it will probably have more to do with other issues (staying with his family, less press pressure, etc) then with the honor of coaching the US men.

The Bruce takes over New York; Clavijo extends contract with the Rapids

The era of Bruce Arena has begun for New York as he took official control of their practice yesterday.

The Bruce feels that there are good elements to this team. He points to Youri Djorkaeff, Amado Guevara and soon-to-be-signed Dema Kovalenko as the players that could take this team up the table and bring fans into the stadium.

"I don't know if people realize it, we have a player with a fantastic background," Arena said. "We have a player who has won a World Cup here and he's worth watching. Hopefully, as Youri finishes out his season here, people locally will come out. He's an excellent player. Amado Guevara is one of the best midfielders in the league. There are players on this team that people should come out and see."

...

"Dema's obviously a proven player in this league," Arena said. "We made a bid for his services and we anticipate in the next day or two we'll announce that Dema will be part of the New York Red Bulls."

Arena will try to shape this team into something, but he does have some obstacles to overcome such as a training ground. After 11 years, the club does not have a permanent place where it can train day after day.

Arena's first game as coach will be Saturday against Barcelona. His first MLS match will be next Wednesday night against his former team and current MLS juggernaut DC United (tickets).

In non-Bruce Arena news, the Colorado Rapids have extended Fernando Clavijo's coaching contract through 2008. Clavijo took over last season and reshaped the club. He brought in players like Jeff Cunningham, Terry Cooke, and David "Dedi" Ben Dayan. These additions allowed them advance to the semifinals of the playoffs for the first time since 2002.

Colorado is set to move into a new soccer specific stadium next season.

The Bruce takes over New York

The move has been made and the new sporting director/coach of New York Red Bulls is Bruce Arena (see caricature to the left).

The Bruce will take over New York starting on August 12th when the team plays a friendly against FC Barcelona at Giants Stadium. Till then, interim head coach Richie Williams will be in charge.

For Arena, the move to New York might prove to be his hardest task to date. Red Bull is an organization in flux with players that are consistent with just one thing, under performing. The good news is Arena should have the backing needed to change the club over the next couple years. As long as Red Bull is not expecting immediate results, this should work out. It will also be interesting to see how he can use the connections he made as US manager to improve the side (much as he used his NCAA connections to help DC).

In an interesting side note, Arena's first MLS game as coach will be the August 16th meeting against has former club DC United. What a way to restart your MLS coaching career. I do wonder what type of reception he will get when the team visits DC on September 23rd. I would hope that wherever he goes, he gets some cheers when he is introduced.

Bruce, welcome back, the MLS is lucky to have you.

Update: D over at DCenters has a great take on how United fans should handle Bruce's return. Glad to see that Du Nord also finds the cartoon (featured above) that went along with the press release a little lacking.

The Bruce is thanked, but is Klinsmann calling?

Klinsmann story updated here.

I go away for a weekend to visit my family and what do you know, a big US soccer story hits. As everyone but myself has already noted, Bruce Arena (pictured) was denied a third term as coach of the US Men's team. However, U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati said this was not due to the poor performance in Germany, instead it was due to desire to change things up after eight years.

I am not shocked by this news, but I did think that if Arena wanted to coach again, which he did, then he would be given the chance. I was wrong.

Arena is the best coach America has ever had. He took the joke and made it into a threat. Germany did not go so well, but that was not all Arena's fault. He made some questionable coaching decisions (such as putting so much of the blame on the refs after the Italian game, which I think hurt us after the crap call in the Ghana match, and not putting Eddie Johnson in during the Italian affair), but one cannot forget that the reason so many of us were disappointed by Germany was Bruce had made us believe we could win.

Gulati said that Arena will stay on as coach till they hire a new coach or till his contract ends in November. Since the US has some match coming up in the Fall, the Bruce might get one final turn on the sidelines.

But the takes us to the question of who is next. All the talk in the press and on the web is focused on Jürgen Klinsmann. Klinsmann would be a great choice as he does seem to understand the US system (although he has never been involved with it directly) and he brings some much need international respect with him.

However, what happens if Klinsmann is not the next manager? With all the hype that is building over his possible hiring, if someone else gets the job, it will be seen as a let down (the only possible exception to this would be Guss Hiddink, but I don't think he knows the US system plus he has signed up with Russia through at least 2008).

Unless Klinsmann has already agreed and they are just waiting to make an announcement, Gulati needs to start floating some other names. He needs to get people talking about some other possibilities. Heck, even if it is Klinsmann, he should float some rumors just to make news.

My biggest concern about Kinsmann is that he will be seen as the great savior who can do no wrong. He, like all people, needs to be challenged. If we all drink the kool-aid on Klinsmann, we might be disappointed again come 2010.

MLS vs. Bruce Arena

After the US flopped out of the World Cup, Bruce Arena pointed to Major League Soccer as one of the reasons we did not get a better result, saying, "the way for us to get our players to get better is: We do need to get more of our younger talented players in Europe."

This is not the first time Arena has complained about the MLS. In the past he has pointed out how a majority of the season means nothing and that the games lack intensity, among other things.

However, MLS commissioner Don Garber has not taken Bruce's latest comments sitting down. "If I were him I'd take a deep breath and think about what I say before I criticize anyone in American soccer."

MLS deputy commissioner Ivan Gazidiswent a step further. "The temptation after a disappointing World Cup is to come up with knee-jerk reactions and explanations," Gazidis said. "It has the beauty of simplicity. The inconvenient fact is there is not a shred of evidence to support it."

After the poor performance on '06, it is obvious that there are problems with the American game. I agree with Arena that MLS games are too often lacking in intensity and creativity, however I also think the Bruce made some poor coaching decisions. All and all, there is plenty of blame to go around.

The fact is, the product on the MLS pitch in 2006 is better then what it was in 2002, but it is still far from anything found in the big leagues of Europe. If we want to continue to raise the level of the game in the US, we need to get more young players playing, more fans in the seats and better pay all around.

If you are a fan of the US national team and do not support the MLS (be it by watching the matches on TV or attending a game or two a season), then you are only making it harder for our team to perform on the international stage.

Still, I agree with Arena that we need players like Johnson, Donovan, Twellman, Adu and Dempsey to get into (or back into) the European leagues (this was actually one of the first things I said after the Ghana match). The hard fact is that is where the best soccer in the world is played and if we want our players to achieve their best, they need to play the best. Perhaps in 10-years, the MLS will be on level with some of the best in Europe (don't laugh, if you look at the money situation and the number of potential fans in the US, it very much could happen), but as of right now, Europe is where they need to go.

So for now, let's just call 2006 a step back that exposes the problems in American soccer.

Team USA clears their first World Cup hurdle

It looks like Bruce Arena's boys will make it out of the Cary training camp as a healthy unit.

Arena made it a goal to get through camp without any of the 23-men on the roster succumbing to injury, and it looks as if he has done it. The team finished their training camp on Sunday night and the only injury to report is a slightly twisted ankle for midfielder DaMarcus Beasley.

The Bruce had to keep reminding players not to take each other down fighting for the ball.

The team now gets ready for three matches in a week before they head off to Germany. Their first match is tomorrow (Tuesday) against Morocco.

I am surprised that they have made it this far without an injury. Hopefully this trend will continue through the cup.

Frankie Hejduk out of US World Cup squad

Frankie Hejduk is no longer part of the US roster as he has torn his ACL.

LA Galaxy’s Chris Albright will replace Hejduk.

"I deeply regret having to replace Frankie Hejduk on the roster. Frankie has been a great member of the national team program for many years. Unfortunately this last minute injury has forced us to make a change," said U.S. manager Bruce Arena. "I'm delighted to be able to offer Chris Albright an opportunity to be a member of our team. As the case with all of our alternates, they need to be prepared in case a situation like this occurs."

"To be honest, I would have rather originally been on the roster because that would have meant that Frankie wouldn't have done his ACL. My heart goes out to Frankie, being an experienced guy that I'm sure Bruce would have wanted in the mix," Albright said. "Frankie is a good buddy of mine and he's been doing it for a lot of years so obviously I feel for him and if that could have been avoided for me to get there, then that would have been the way to go."

Chris Albright joins teammate Landon Donovan on the 23-man roster.

US World Cup Roster

At long last it is here and sure enough the biggest surprise of all was in the forward position.

I give you the full US Wold Cup Roster:

Goalkeepers
Marcus Hahnemann, Tim Howard, Kasey Keller

Defenders
Carlos Bocanegra, Steve Cherundolo, Jimmy Conrad, Cory Gibbs, Frankie Hejduk, Eddie Lewis, Oguchi Onyewu, Eddie Pope

Midfielders
DaMarcus Beasley, Bobby Convey, Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Pablo Mastroeni, John O'Brien, Ben Olsen, Claudio Reyna

Forwards
Brian Ching, Eddie Johnson, Brian McBride, Josh Wolff

The big talking point is the absence of Taylor Twellman from the list in favor of Brian Ching (pictured). As Bruce Arena said, "Ching has proved himself in MLS play." I am surprised that he went with Wolff over Twellman, but I guess Wolff has had a better start to the season. Ching does offer a good head off set pieces, but his international experiences have been less then great of late.

Of my picks, I got all 3 keepers, 7 of the 8 defenders (I went with Gregg Berhalter over Jimmy Conrad), all 8 midfielders and 3 of the 4 forwards (see Brian Ching above). So I got a total of 21 out of 23, not that bad.

Arena also named the alternates for the roster.

Goalkeeper
Tony Meola, Matt Reis

Defenders
Chris Albright, Gregg Berhalter, Todd Dunivant

Midfielders
Chris Armas, Chris Klein, Pat Noonan, Steve Ralston, Kerry Zavagnin

Forwards
Conor Casey, Chris Rolfe, Taylor Twellman

Odds are 1 or 2 of these alts will be called in.

Now we know our 23, next up, making the group work as a whole.

Update: The team will begin their pre-World Cup training camp May 10 in Cary, N.C., when 20 players are expected to report. Both Steve Cherundolo and Kasey Keller will join camp after the German Bundesliga season ends on May 13. Additionally, Eddie Lewis may still be competing in the promotion playoffs in the English League Championship.

As for the alternatives, I don't think they will be in camp unless they are replacing a player, but I might be wrong.

Update 2: On Wednesday, Frankie Hejduk was replaced by Chris Albright due to injury.

If I were Roster Claus...

If you are looking for the actual World Cup roster, look here.

In 6 hours, Roster Claus will announce his squad for Germany. This means two things. Players will no longer need to wonder 'is this going to help me get to the World Cup' and everyone gets to take a moment and be Bruce Arena by attempting to pick the 23-man roster.

So who am I to argue with tradition or fate or whatever it you want to call it.

Here is my guess at the 23 players about to get tickets to the world's greatest show:

Goalkeepers:
Kasey Keller, Marcus Hehnemann, Tim Howard

Defenders:
Gregg Berhalter, Eddie Lewis, Oguchi Onyewu, Eddie Pope, Carlos Bocanegra, Steve Cherundolo, Cory Gibbs, Frankie Hejduk

Midfielders:
DaMarcus Beasley, Bobby Convey, Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Pablo Mastroeni, John O'Brien, Ben Olsen, Claudio Reyna

Forwards:
Eddie Johnson, Brian McBride, Taylor Twellman, Josh Wolff

By the way, it seems Arena will contact most players via email to let them know the news. His reason, "I have enough issues to deal with the 23 rather than spending all the time on the ones that aren't part of it which is not to handle it lightly, either. I will do everything I can to give these players their due respect, but it's virtually impossible to deal with all of them on the phone."

For all of us that waited by their email for 24+ hours waiting to hear if we got our tickets to the World Cup, well that pales in significance to what these players must be feeling.

But back to the roster, I think the position with the greatest chance of a surprise is forward. He could name Donovan as a forward, thus dropping either Wolff or Twellman (I would guess Wolff) or Ching will find a way onto the list due to his ability to get goals off set pieces (again Wolff or Twellman will be the odd one out).

Another idea that has been passed around is added Connor Casey instead of Twellman. Oh, Kenny Cooper's dad wanted me to say that there is a chance Kenny Cooper might make the team (just a little joking around, as Cooper will be a part of 2010).

Other changes, a few midfielders might be moved to defenders (or the other way around), but I think I'll get at least 12 of the 16 names I listed on the final roster. Finally, as I said last night, if John O'Brien's name is not included, I think it's because the injury he suffered last week is much greater then we have been told.

Just a few more hours till ESPN's time with Roster Claus (6pm ET).

Roster Claus is coming to town

The Bruce is making his list and checking it twice this final weekend before he plays the role of jolly, old Roster Claus (pictured).

While waiting to find out which 23 Papa Arena will take to Germany, why not read up on the best coach ever, as Grant Wahl adds more information to his story about Arena, which can be found in the current issue of Sports Illustrated. He gets some great quotes from players and coaches a like. The best thing, it even brings up what some people consider his weakest skill.

In a sense, it doesn't really matter whether Arena is or isn't a genius, as long as his players feel that way. Keep in mind, though, that they view him as a team-building genius, not necessarily an X's-and-O's genius. I also asked players: When guys complain about Arena, what do they complain about?

"The only times I've heard guys complain about Bruce, and I would agree, is in certain circumstances where we haven't played the right way tactically," says Donovan. "I think Bruce would admit it. Like the first Mexico qualifier in Azteca [in '05] when we played a 4-3-3. We all bought into it, but after the game it was like, Why would he do that? We adjusted in the second half and got back into the game, but it was too late.... But it also works the other way. Against Mexico we'd played a 4-4-2 for forever heading into the ['02] World Cup, but when we played them there he decided to play a 3-5-2 and it worked brilliantly."

You can even read up on his biggest regret from 2002 and who would have taken the pk against Germany if the ref had correctly made the call against Mr. Handball in the Box, Torsten Frings.

Just four more days till World Cup Squadmas.

Arena to say with Team USA

What to make of US Soccer President Sunil Gulati saying Bruce Arena's (pictured) future does not heavily depend on the USA's performance at the World Cup in Germany? If you are USA Today, it can only mean one thing, Arena is staying as coach of the US team.

I think that might be reading a little much into the quote. It could be the case that US Soccer would be happy for him to stay, but the man himself might want to wait and see. The Bruce has not hidden his desire to coach in Europe some day and if a good offer came along, I think it would be hard for him to turn it down.

After 8-years of doing national duty, which saw his team go from an international joke to major threat, he might just be ready for a new challenge.

Arena's World Cup roster to be named on May 2nd

During yesterday's DC United Kickoff luncheon, the Bruce announced that he would name his 23-man World Cup roster on May 2nd (look towards the end of the article), 13 days before the international deadline. He may also name as many as 10 alternates in case of a training camp injury.

By naming players earlier, Arena will give MLS teams a little more time to prepare for player's absence, but it will also mean players will not have as much time to impress Bruce with their league play. For MLS players on the bubble, they will need to come out strong right away.

For European based players, this should give them more time to plan for their off-season.

It is funny that so many other international coaches are begging FIFA for more time to make their choices. I guess Arena knows what he wants.

Thanks to Josh at ThroughBall.com for passing this along.