World Cup: Charlie Davies out, but Edson Buddle makes U.S. preliminary roster
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Galaxy players Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle and former Galaxy player Herculez Gomez all were included Tuesday on the preliminary U.S. roster of 30 players for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, but there was no room for Charlie Davies.
Also named to the roster were Chivas USA defender Jonathan Bornstein and midfielder Sacha Kljestan.
Davies, a starter for the U.S. before he was severely injured in a car accident in October, had been trying to recover in time to take part in the June 11-July 11 tournament, but Bob Bradley, the U.S. coach, determined that the striker would not be fit in time for the quadrennial world championship.
Instead, he opted to bring Buddle, whose only U.S. appearance came in 2003, into the camp that was to start this weekend at Princeton University. Other forwards joining Buddle and Gomez, the joint top goal scorer in the Mexican league this past season, were Jozy Altidore, Brian Ching, Robbie Findley and Eddie Johnson.
‘I feel blessed with the opportunity to play with some of the best players in the country,’ Buddle said in a statement released by the Galaxy. ‘It has always been my dream to represent my country and play in the World Cup.’
Buddle played his way into contention for the roster by scoring nine goals in the Galaxy’s first eight games of the Major League Soccer season.
Johnson, who has not been featured on the national team in some time, is playing for Aris in the Greek league as a teammate of once-vaunted Freddy Adu, who did not make the cut.
On May 30, after warm-up games against the Czech Republic and Turkey, Bradley will reduce his roster to the 23 players he will take to South Africa. The team plays England, Slovenia and Algeria in the first round of the 32-nation World Cup.
For a more detailed look at the preliminary squad, along with Bradley’s explanation of his choices, please see http://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/ later on Tuesday.
The U.S. roster of 30:
Goalkeepers: Tim Howard, Marcus Hahnemann, Brad Guzan.
Defenders: Bornstein, Carlos Bocanegra, Oguchi Onyewu, Steve Cherundolo, Jay DeMerit, Clarence Goodson, Chad Marshall, Heath Pearce, Jonathan Spector.
Midfielders: Kljestan, Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley, Alejandro Bedoya, Michael Bradley, Ricardo Clark, Clint Dempsey, Maurice Edu, Benny Feilhaber, Stuart Holden, Robbie Rogers and Jose Francisco Torres.
Forwards: Altidore, Buddle, Ching, Findley, Gomez and Johnson.
--Grahame L. Jones