Though winless since taking over as US national team boss on July 29, Jurgen Klinsmann didn't ring in the changes for a pair of friendlies next month.
Of the 22 players Klinsmann invited to join the US national team camp ahead of fixtures against Honduras on Oct. 8 in Miami (6 pm ET; FOX Soccer/Univisión) and Ecuador on Oct. 11 at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. (7 pm ET; ESPN2/Univisión), only three will be newcomers to a Klinsmann-led camp.
“One important thing is to see continuity in the build-up of our national team and also in the way we work as coaches," Klinsmann said in statement. "We'd like to see new faces as well, but we also don't want to shake up the core structure of the team too much."
Goalkeeper Nick Rimando will get his first taste of camp under Klinsmann, despite posting two heavy defeats with RSL this past month. Rimando joins eight other MLS stars on the roster.
Center back Oguchi Onyewu makes his return to the national team set up after a string of solid performances for Portugal's Sporting CP. Meanwhile, Hoffenheim's Daniel Williams will undoubtedly trigger a spike in Google searches as the relatively unknown 21-year-old midfielder has played international youth soccer for Germany.
A total of nine MLS players will join Klinsmann next week alongside European-based veterans such as Tim Howard, Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore, while midfielder Michael Bradley has been recalled following a good start with Italy's Chievo.
The US national team have played three games under Klinsmann, tying Mexico (1-1) on Aug. 10 before falling to Costa Rica (1-0) on Sept. 2 and Belgium (1-0) on Sept. 6.
"The two results with Costa Rica and Belgium didn't work in our favor, but we saw clearly that the team started to understand what we demand from them in terms of pace, playing style and how to play," Kilnsmann said. "We are definitely on the right path, and what we now need to focus on in this get together is the eagerness to finish things off up front.”
U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION
GOALKEEPERS (3): Bill Hamid (D.C.United), Tim Howard (Everton/England), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
DEFENDERS (7): Carlos Bocanegra (Rangers/Scotland), Timmy Chandler (FC Nürnberg/Germany), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96/Germany), Oguchi Onyewu (Sporting CP/Portugal), Michael Orozco Fiscal (San Luis/Mexico), Tim Ream (New York Red Bulls), Jonathan Spector (Birmingham City/England)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Michael Bradley (Chievo Verona/Italy), Clint Dempsey (Fulham/England), Maurice Edu (Rangers/Scotland), Jeff Larentowicz (Colorado Rapids), Brek Shea (FC Dallas), Danny Williams (Hoffenheim/Germany)
FORWARDS (5): Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls), Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar/Netherlands), DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla/Mexico), Teal Bunbury (Sporting Kansas City), Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy)
