PRINCETON, N.J. – US National Team manager Bob Bradley may have a good grasp of what his final 23-man World Cup roster will look like, but said Wednesday that there are still a handful of spots that are up in the air.
“We have some ideas for sure but there are still some decisions that need to get made,” Bradley told the assembled media at the US' pre-World Cup camp. “The idea of having 30 people in camp gives people an opportunity to show where they are and means that if we had another injury or something then you’ve got people prepared if you need to go to what would be your alternates.”
The one player in the toughest spot is Columbus Crew defender Chad Marshall, who sat on the bench as other players participated in the small-sided matches and ran laps to conclude the third day of training.
“Chad Marshall did the warm-up and did some individual work with Ivan Pierra, the trainer, as a way of testing exactly where he is,” Bradley said. “I’ll wait to hear from Ivan exactly what he saw when he puts him through the fitness test.”
For the first time in this camp, the full complement of 30 players were all present at training. Bradley and his staff continue to see progress from three other injured players who participated in warm-ups and some passing exercises on Wednesday: Carlos Bocanegra (abdominal), Jay DeMerit (abdominal) and Eddie Johnson (hamstring). The manager also stated that he was not concerned with DeMerit’s right eye not being at 100 percent by the player’s own admission.
Bradley reiterated that the two scheduled send-off matches – on May 25 and 29 against the Czech Republic and Turkey, respectively – were sufficient preparation for his team before heading to South Africa. The first of the two, against the Czechs in East Hartford, Conn., will be the defining match for the fringe players.
“In some cases, guys might be on the fence for the 23," Bradley said, "and as I’ve said many times, the idea is that we’re still going to have the roster selected after the game in Hartford. In other cases, you might feel that there’s time. You can bring the player to South Africa and you have the confidence that in those weeks he’s ready to go.”
Bradley did not provide much insight, however, on how he'll make decisions on the positions some players will be asked to play on the back line and in midfield. He compared Jonathan Spector’s ability to play every position on the back line to that of John O’Shea of Manchester United. He said Clint Dempsey’s role with Fulham is virtually identical to the one he plays with the USMNT. And he highlighted how well the pairing of Oguchi Onyewu and DeMerit clicked at central defense in the Confederations Cup, leaving Bocanegra to man a left back role.
Also, if it wasn’t clear already that DaMarcus Beasley was on the outside looking in, Bradley told the story of how Beasley was practically dropped from the picture at one point and they brought him into Princeton to “see where he was.”
Bradley opened his press conference by sharing news of the death of a family friend, Colonel John McHugh, who was killed in Afghanistan on Tuesday.
It might be very early in this particular World Cup camp, but the US coach said he plans to use this news along with other ideas to make sure players don’t forget that, at the end of the day, the World Cup is about patriotism.
“You hear news like that and when you think about what it means to represent your country you think about how important soccer is," Bradley said, "but how it’s not even close to what it means to be somewhere else in the world defending everything.”
