GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa: 5/3 SO), Tim Howard (Everton: 14/8 SO)

DEFENDERS (7): Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes: 24/3), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA, 4/0), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover: 19/0), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards: 1/0), Clarence Goodson (IK Start: 1/0), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan: 18/1), Jonathan Spector (West Ham: 3/0)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach: 13/4), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo: 7/1), Clint Dempsey (Fulham: 20/5), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus: 4/0), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo: 3/0), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew: 0/0), José Francisco Torres (Pachuca: 6/0)

FORWARDS (6): Jozy Altidore (Hull City: 11/6), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids: 5/0), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo: 16/6), Kenny Cooper (1860 Munich: 1/1), Charlie Davies (FC Sochaux: 5/2), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy: 33/11)
*numbers indicate all-time World Cup Qualifying caps/goals

You’ll notice Jimmy Conrad replaces Jay DeMerit and his infected eye, and FrankenCooper makes a rare appearance in a full strength US MNT squad. After scoring twice in the Gold Cup, Cooper has done well enough to in his move to 1860 Munich, scoring three times in nine matches so far. Kind of amazing that the MLS-centric Bradley would give Cooper a look now that he’s out of the league and in the German second division, but hey — I like it.

The bad news is that Clint Dempsey will miss Saturday’s match against Honduras after suffering a sprained shoulder in the final minutes of Fulham’s draw with West Ham last weekend. He’s still in London and will be reevaluated at a later date to see if he can play the Costa Rica match.

So without Deuce, how will Bradley’s starting XI change? I would venture a prediction, but since Bob is sure to defy any logical forecast, I’ll just say don’t be surprised if Dempsey’s replacement is Brian Ching and Conor Casey tied together

This is Jermaine Jones. He is 27 years old, he’s a defensive midfielder, he plays for Schalke in the Bundesliga, he has three German national team call ups, and he has just told the German Football Association that he wants to play for the United States.

Admittedly, I don’t know a ton about Mr. Jones, but if someone on YouTube deemed him worthy of an “Eye of the Tiger” compilation video, then he must be pretty awesome.

So how will he fit into Bob’s squad? Well, he’s a defensive midfielder, so Bob automatically loves him like a son. It’ll be interesting to see if his resume automatically gets him playing time or not, but we’ll just have to wait and see on that. In the meantime, here he is in action:

Here’s Bob Bradley’s 23-man roster for the Confederations Cup in South Africa:

GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Luis Robles (Kaiserslautern)

DEFENDERS (8): Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Danny Califf (Midtjylland ), Jay DeMerit (Watford), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Freddy Adu (AS Monaco), DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), José Francisco Torres (Pachuca)

FORWARDS (5): Jozy Altidore (Xerez), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Charlie Davies (Hammarby), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy)

So it looks like Bob was so impressed with Conor Casey ugly display against Honduras that he decided he would like some more.

The only new name on this list is that of goalkeeper Luis Robles (pictured above), who plays for 2. Bundesliga side Kaiserslautern. Robles was invited to his first national team camp at the end of last month and apparently the 25-year-old University of Portland grad impressed the brass. Either that or they’re using him as extra security in South Africa.

A few roster notes for tomorrow’s match:

-Super Frankie Hejduk will be unavailable with a groin strain.

Thoughts: This is an interesting development for the team. Frankie has obviously been playing out of his head over the last few internationals, so not having him will be a negative in that respect, but come on, is he really going to be starting in the World Cup next year? This should give a more realistic look at the future.

-Maurice Edu did not make the trip to Costa Rica, instead staying in Glasgow after he suffered a knee injury in Rangers’ final league match of their season.

Thoughts: Sucks.

-Ricardo Clark was a late addition to the roster.

Thoughts: Meh.

Alright, that should be it for the roster shenanigans before the match. Be sure to join us tomorrow night for the live blog.

The World Cup Qualifiers against Costa Rica and Honduras are quickly approaching, so Bob Bradley pulled out the old team sheet and posted it on the official board. Here it is, if you haven’t recited it from memory by now:

GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa: 5/3 SO), Tim Howard (Everton: 9/7 SO)

DEFENDERS (9): Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes: 19/2), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA: 1/0), Danny Califf (Midtjylland: 4/0), Jay DeMerit (Watford: 1/0), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew: 17/2), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege: 14/1), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock: 9/0), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United: 2/1), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC: 0/0)

MIDFIELDERS (8): Freddy Adu (Monaco: 5/1), DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers: 24/6), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach: 9/4), Maurice Edu (Rangers: 4/0), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus: 0/0), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA: 9/0), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids: 13/0), José Francisco Torres (Pachuca: 4/0)

FORWARDS (5): Jozy Altidore (Xerez: 6/5), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo: 15/6), Charlie Davies (Hammarby: 1/1), Clint Dempsey (Fulham: 15/4), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy: 28/9)
*numbers indicate all-time World Cup Qualifying caps/goals

Nice to see Adu and Altidore, as always, but there really isn’t a whole lot to say about this group that hasn’t been said before. Here’s to getting the job done.

GOALKEEPERS (4): Jon Busch (Chicago Fire), Will Hesmer (Columbus Crew), Troy Perkins (Valerenga IF), Matt Pickens (out of contract)

DEFENDERS (8): Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Danny Califf (FC Midtjylland), Sean Franklin (Los Angeles Galaxy), Cory Gibbs (Colorado Rapids), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Chris Wingert (Real Salt Lake), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)

MIDFIELDERS (9): Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo), Brian Carroll (Columbus Crew), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Jack Jewsbury (Kansas City Wizards), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), John Thorrington (Chicago Fire)

FORWARDS (4): Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Kenny Cooper (FC Dallas), Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF), Chris Rolfe (Chicago Fire)

It’s similar to the roster for the last Guatemala match, only with a few improvements here and there. All I know is, if Cooper and Davies aren’t the starting strikers, I’m going to murder somebody.

The holidays are supposed to be a time for receiving gifts from loved ones that make you all warm and fuzzy inside. Obviously Neven Subtoic didn’t get the memo.

If you hadn’t heard by now, Borussia Dortmund starlet defender Neven Subotic has chosen to play for the Serbian national team, homeland of his father.

We all know the saga by now, the illegal bid by Germany, his shunning of the U.S.’s call ups in the past, and his father’s pushing of the motherland. All we are left with now are a few pictures of Neven with the U-17’s and memories of what was then a somewhat underachieving youth international.

No one, and obviously not Thomas Rongen, could have seen any of this coming. No one knew the kid would sprout up to become one of Europe’s most sought after defenders. And that, frankly, sucks.

But it’s not all moan and groan for US Soccer.

If we had to lose another wonderkid to a European nation (ala Rossi), thank the heavens he was a center back. Out of all the lack of depth and question marks Bob Bradley has to contend with in his player pool, the center back position ain’t one of ‘em. Oguchi Onyewu is having another spectacular season in Belgium and looks to be moving to a much bigger club in the near future. Carlos Bocanegra is having a European Renaissance at French club Rennes, who look to be an outside shot at the title. And behind them sit a plethora of youngsters and European seasoned players who look to be coming down the pipe line in the near future. The harsh reality is that none of them are Neven Subotic.

But the truth is it doesn’t really matter anymore.

GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Troy Perkins (Valerenga IF), Matt Pickens (out of contract)
DEFENDERS (6): Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Sean Franklin (Los Angeles Galaxy), Cory Gibbs (Colorado Rapids), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Drew Moor (FC Dallas), Michael Parkhurst (New England Revolution)
MIDFIELDERS (5): Freddy Adu (AS Monaco), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids), John Thorrington (Chicago Fire)
FORWARDS (6): Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Davy Arnaud (Kansas City Wizards), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Kenny Cooper (FC Dallas), Chris Rolfe (Chicago Fire)

Additions to the previously released camp roster are from the European contingent struggling for playing time: Jozy Altidore, Freddy Adu, and Brad Guzan.

Those three should all start and add the spark the previously released camp roster was clearly lacking. No offense, Davy Arnaud.

It’s a young roster but should present a great opportunity to see some of the up and coming talent that isn’t quite there yet, as well as those trying to break into starting roles.

Pretty hard to believe we actually have a game around these parts again. Be on the lookout for increased coverage and a liveblog on match night at 6 p.m Mountain Time, 5 p.m. Pacific Time, and 8 p.m. Real People Time. (thanks shivam)

Thoughts on the roster? Do you care about this one?

Later in the day, as you probably know, USSF President Sunil Gulati stepped forward to swiftly proclaim,

“We have spoken to Neven’s representative and can confirm the story is untrue”

With a Saturday that seemed so close to a resolution in this saga, all be it a possibly poor one for supporters of the USMNT, the only thing that appears to be certain is the uncertainty which has engulfed the Neven Subotic situation from the very beginning.

It shouldn’t surprise people that a hometown newspaper from one of the countries that is vying for the kid, would put out a story saying he has committed to them. It happens twice a day in the European transfer window and has a success rate even worse than marriage these days.

The quick statement released by Gulati does, however, indicate a sense of hope for USMNT fans, as it seems that we may be close or at least still have a shot in this thing.

I’m positive we will have one to two more stories on this that develop during the week so stay tuned.

We meet again, Neven Subotic.

In what is turning into one of my personal favorite bi-weekly soccer sagas of international proportions, we have another hint, clue, rumor, or whatever you would like to call the following “story” on Neven Subotic.

In addition to earning the praise of Rafael Van Der Vaart (the most enjoyable name to say in all of soccer) for being maybe the best player in the Bundesliga so far this year, this Goal.com article has the following to say…

“while Subotic remains eligible for Bosnia, Serbia and the United States. His father has made clear he would like his son to play for Serbia, but Subotic is said to favor a return to U.S. colors.”

Papa don’t preach, Neven’s keepin’ his America! Ok, maybe not so fast, but if so; smart kid that Neven Subotic. Maybe he is finally seeing how hard it is to turn down a guaranteed World Cup every four years and the possibility for soccer stardom in America.

So there you go. Subotic is “said” to favor a return to play in the USA strip. What more confirmation do you need people?