A few things to note ahead of tonight’s match:

-Jay DeMerit is back in England due to his groin strain, but Gooch will be available tonight. [Yahoo!]

-Edgar Castillo has been cleared to play for the US MNT and is now available for selection (though obviously not for tonight). Jermaine Jones’ clearance is being held up because FIFA is still waiting on information from the German Football Federation. [Goal]

-Check back here around kick off tonight for running match thoughts. Not a full blown live blog, but I will be sharing my joyous and/or enraged ramblings as the game plays out. See you then.

Bob Bradley has announced his 24-man roster for the two upcoming World Cup Qualifiers against El Salvador and Trinidad & Tobago. Here it is:

GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa: 5/3 SO), Tim Howard (Everton FC: 12/7 SO)

DEFENDERS (8): Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes: 22/3), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA, 2/0), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover: 19/0), Jay DeMerit (Watford: 3/0), Clarence Goodson (IK Start: 1/0), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew: 2/0), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan: 17/1), Jonathan Spector (West Ham: 2/0)

MIDFIELDERS (8): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake: 0/0), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach: 11/4), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo: 6/0), Clint Dempsey (Fulham: 18/4), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus: 2/0), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo: 1/0), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew: 0/0), José Francisco Torres (Pachuca: 5/0)

FORWARDS (6): Jozy Altidore (Hull City: 9/5), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids: 5/0), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo: 16/6), Charlie Davies (FC Sochaux: 3/2), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy: 31/11), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake: 0/0)
*numbers indicate all-time World Cup Qualifying caps/goals

The new additions are Kyle Beckerman and Robbie Findley, but aside from that it’s business as usual. With Davies and Altidore finding their club form in Europe, I’m really curious to see how they pair up in these matches. [US Soccer]

A couple other items of note:

-Video of Jozy’s first goal for Hull City: [Unprofessional Foul]

-Charlie Renken is off to Hoffenheim. Not sure if Germany is the place for him. [Tribal Football]

-DaMarcus Beasley wants more playing time with Rangers. When he told them this, I imagine they began their response by saying, “Yeah, about that…” [Soccernet]

-Freddy Adu wants a move to the Eredivisie. Anywhere in the Eredivisie. He also calls Benfica out on not wanting him anymore. [Goal]

-Pretty much the closest Landy will ever get to being a member of Barcelona. [ONTD]

-After just two games in the Gold Cup, Freddy Adu has left the US MNT to join Benfica’s preseason training. Hopefully Benfica realize he’s there. [AP]

-Jozy Altidore being loaned to Greek league champions Olympiakos? I think I like that. [New York Times]

-Hey, remember Grown Ass Man Eddie Johnson? Apparently he’s not only back to playing with Fulham, but he even scored in their 3-0 win over Melbourne on their Australian preseason tour. Imagine that. [USA Today]

-Charlie Davies has been sold by Hammerby to French Ligue 1 side Sochaux, who, according to Davies, have promised him a spot in their starting XI. Sochaux finished 14th in the league each of the last two years, so I think they’ll probably keep that promise. [AP]

-The image you see to the left is genius. I want to put that on a billboard outside USSF headquarters in Chicago. [Project 2010]

-Beasley admitted that even he knows he sucks, apologizes to teammates. [Goal]
(Seriously though — kudos to DaMarcus Beasley for doing this. It takes a big man to actually say that out loud. But I still don’t want him on the pitch.)

-Freddy Adu would like you to know that he can defend, damnit. Respect The Adu! [Fred's Twitter]

-Jermaine Jones will become available to the US MNT on August 2. [Soccer365]

-If you’re wondering whether the USSF knows that everyone has turned on Bob, look no further than the comments on the OFFICIAL US MNT Blog’s post about how we might all get transported into a magical netherworld and the US might advice in the Confederations Cup. [US MNT Blog]

-Join the Facebook group. [Facebook]

-Or, if you prefer to be more direct, contact the USSF here or get your coach fired the way your granddaddy did it by writing to Sunil at this address:

President Sunil Gulati
US Soccer Association
1801 S. Prairie Avenue
Chicago, IL 60616

“Donovan is an interesting player. But when you have Klose, Toni and Olic already under contract, we think the fourth player [striker] should really be a young player with perspective.”

Awesome. So why’d you bring him over in the first place? [Soccernet]

-And yeah, The Great Criswell called it (except for the friendlies success, which Bayern obviously isn’t counting, either.)

-Want to see an in depth statistical analysis of the Mexico match that goes beyond a math nerd’s wet dream? [USsoccer.com]

-After scoring two against Mexico, Michael Bradley scored again for Gladbach. Tell me again why Bob doesn’t use him as an attack midfielder? [SBI]

-Jonah Freedman argues that Sacha put in his best MNT performance ever against Mexico. Interesting. [SI]

-Coincidentally, it took 90 minutes to sell out. [USsoccer.com]

-The United States bids for 2018 or 2022 World Cup. Steve Davis says we’re going to get it, too. [Soccernet]

-Landycakes added to Bayern Munich’s Champions League roster. Could this mean he’s staying? [Goal]

-Maurice Edu set up a DaMarcus Beasley goal in Rangers’ friendly against AC Milan. [Soccer By Ives]

And finally…

-Freddy Adu actually played in a match for Monaco! Believe it! Granted, it was just a friendly and Monaco was playing their reserves/youngsters, but it was against a nearly full strength Juventus side with Buffon, Amauri, and Del Piero all in action. Adu played the full 90 minutes 72 minutes and even drew a penalty, which Monaco scored on. It ended 1-1 and instead of playing extra time, they went right to penalties, which Monaco won.

-San Jose’s Jason Hernandez and Colorado’s Ugo Ihemelu have been called in to the US MNT camp to replace defenders Clarence Goodson and Cory Gibbs.

-The OFFICIAL US MNT blog asked a few of the players what the best holiday gift they gave/received was. Best responses:

Sean Franklin
Best Given – Everyone in my family got decked out in Nike gear

Best Received – My mom gave me new pillows for my bed. It was one of those things that I really needed, but never wanted to go out and get.

Pillows? Really? That’s just kind of sad. How about you, Marvell Wynne?

Best Given – I bought my brother Batman’s Gauntlets, which are the things he wears on his forearms. I think they can actually stop a bullet!

Best Received – My mother gave me an Oral B electric toothbrush. It’s pretty high tech.

First off, please don’t test that bullet stopping theory. No way that ends well. Second, an electric toothbrush? Why did the MNT’s mothers do their Christmas shopping at Bed Bath & Beyond? What did Landy’s mom give him, a bathroom scale?

-Kenny Cooper is staying with FC Dallas…for now.

-Landon Donovan’s loan to Bayern Munich began yesterday and will run until March 8. We’ll keep an eye out for him as he tries to distract Luca Toni with his wife, Mrs. Landycakes, in an effort to sneak onto the pitch.

UPDATE: New Studio 90 video commemorating the first day back in camp. Danny Califf rocking some insane sideburns! Sacha looking dirty! Bob yelling! Cameron getting an email from his phone! What more could you possibly want?

-French website Mercato365.com is reporting that Oguchi Onyewu has already agreed to a three and a half year deal with Marseille worth about $4 million. Marseille currently sits second in the Ligue 1 table. So…Gooch in the Champion’s League? Thoughts? [SI.com]

-Celtic have apparently joined the growing list of European clubs going after Sacha Kljestan. And that makes me happy. [Goal]

-Soccerlens has a fantastic column about the current state and future of NCAA soccer. Sure, you can there has always been a lot wrong with American soccer, but college soccer has been suffering to a much higher degree than the pro game since MLS came around and it’s about time some changes were made. But, this is the NCAA we’re talking about, so I’m not holding my breath.

-Goal.com readers think Freddy Adu should be in the US MNT starting XI. And in a seperate poll, almost 54% of Goal.com readers said that drinking water is a good way to avoid dehydration. [Goal]

-Oh, and one more thing. Alex Morgan:

-Freddy Adu says his dream is to play in the Premier League (or just play anywhere at all…I think he forgets what the pitch looks like at this point) and, more specifically for Tottenham, as that was the club he supported as a small boy (er, smaller boy).

-Voting for USSoccer.com’s Athlete of the Year Awards ends on December 8th. On the men’s side the nominees are as follows:

U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year Candidates
Carlos Bocanegra, Defender
Michael Bradley, Midfielder
Clint Dempsey, Midfielder
Landon Donovan, Midfielder/Forward
Tim Howard, Goalkeeeper
Oguchi Onyewu, Defender

U.S. Soccer Young Male Athlete of the Year Candidates
Maurice Edu, Midfielder/Defender
Stuart Holden, Midfielder
Sacha Kljestan, Midfielder
Michael Orozco, Defender
Robbie Rogers, Midfielder
Marvell Wynne, Defender

Personally, I think I would go with Tim Howard and Sacha Kljestan, but there are a few deserving candidates in each group there.

-Oguchi Onyewu helped Standard Liege down Sampdoria in the UEFA Cup yesterday, scoring the second goal in their 3-0 win. Yay for Gooch.

Here’s a poorly framed fan view of his goal: