According to FIFA stipulations, June 1 is D-Day for countries participating in the World Cup to name their final 23. The US, however, say it will come prior to the May 29 match against Turkey.
Following the first day of US World Cup training camp, head coach Bob Bradley confirmed that he will give the final roster in less than two weeks.
“The idea would be that by the time we get to the Philadelphia [match vs. Turkey], we have made our decisions and we have our 23,” Bradley said.
That timeline also means that players on the bubble will not have a second friendly match to prove to Bradley that they belong.
On Monday, there were four players who were kept out of training: Tim Howard (quad strain), Jay DeMerit (abdominal), Eddie Johnson (hamstring) and Chad Marshall (hamstring). Captain Carlos Bocanegra participated in the team warm-up but then did individual work as he makes progress in recovering from his abdominal injury.
Bradley says the injuries do not alarm him just yet.
“Obviously, we’ll assess this as we go through this week as to whether some of the issues are already on their way to being better and guys are back in training or whether it then becomes more of a concern,” he said.
Three other players were undergoing physicals on Monday: Edson Buddle, Landon Donovan and José Francisco Torres. Four members of the squad were yet to arrive into camp with Benny Feilhaber and Clarence Goodson scheduled to get in on Monday while Alejandro Bedoya and Oguchi Onyewu come in Tuesday.
Media were permitted to observe the final 15 minutes of practice in which players were running laps with Clint Dempsey and Sacha Kljestan leading the way. The group was visibly winded by the first of what is expected to be a few days of grueling fitness work, which Bradley called a priority.
Bradley says he expects Onyewu to join training upon arrival, as he is considered fully recovered from the injury suffered in the final World Cup qualifier last October.
