The United States has already qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Finals in South Africa. They will be playing two friendly matches in Europe in the upcoming international break. The first will be at Slovakia on Saturday, November 14, 2009 and on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 against Denmark. Manager Bob Bradley has called up 22 players for the Slovakia match. There are many of the regular call-ups including Jozy Altidore, Clint Dempsey, Carlos Bocanegra, Steve Cherundolo, and Michael Bradley.
There are a few surprises and players getting a chance with the team already qualified and the MLS playoffs still happening. For example, Robbie Rogers, Jeff Cunningham, Eddie Johnson, and Dax McCarty (no caps yet) were all called up to the team. Cunningham has caught the attention of Bradley after being in terrific form for FC Dallas and winning the Golden Boot in MLS. McCarty has been regarded as one of the better young midfielders in MLS and could get a chance to show if he’s capable at performing at the international stage. Eddie Johnson has got little playing time at Fulham and his inclusion is a bit surprising.
The USA will be without Landon Donovan, Brian Ching, and Stuart Holden who are all in the MLS Playoffs this weekend. Charlie Davies and Oguchi Onyewu are also out for an extended amount of time with injuries. The Slovakia roster is listed below after the USA one.
USA Roster for November 14 against Slovakia
| Players | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Birthdate | Hometown | Club/College | Caps/Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Altidore, Jozy | F | 5-11 | 175 | 11/06/89 | Boca Raton, Fla. | Hull City (England) | 21/8 |
| Bocanegra, Carlos | D | 6-0 | 170 | 05/25/79 | Alta Loma, Calif. | Stade Rennais (France) | 74/11 |
| Bornstein, Jonathan | D | 5-9 | 145 | 11/07/84 | Los Alamitos, Calif. | Chivas USA | 24/2 |
| Bradley, Michael | M | 6-2 | 175 | 07/31/87 | Manhattan Beach, Calif. | Borussia Moenchengladbach (Germany) | 38/7 |
| Casey, Conor | F | 6-1 | 170 | 07/25/81 | Gilpin, Colo. | Colorado Rapids | 16/2 |
| Cherundolo, Steve | D | 5-6 | 145 | 02/19/79 | San Diego, Calif. | Hannover 96 (Germany) | 56/2 |
| Conrad, Jimmy | D | 6-2 | 185 | 02/12/77 | Temple City, Calif. | Kansas City Wizards | 26/1 |
| Cunningham, Jeff | F | 5-8 | 155 | 08/21/76 | Crystal River, Fla. | FC Dallas | 10/0 |
| Dempsey, Clint | F | 6-1 | 170 | 03/09/83 | Nacogdoches, Texas | Fulham FC (England) | 59/17 |
| Feilhaber, Benny | M | 5-9 | 150 | 01/19/85 | Irvine, Calif. | AGF Aarhus (Denmark) | 28/2 |
| Goodson, Clarence | D | 6-4 | 170 | 05/17/82 | Alexandria, Va. | IK Start (Norway) | 6/1 |
| Guzan, Brad | GK | 6-4 | 210 | 09/09/84 | Homer Glen, Ill. | Aston Villa (England) | 13/0 |
| Hahnemann, Marcus | GK | 6-3 | 220 | 06/15/72 | Seattle, Wash. | Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (England) | 7/0 |
| Hejduk, Frankie | D | 5-8 | 155 | 08/05/74 | Cardiff, Calif. | Columbus Crew | 84/7 |
| Johnson, Eddie | F | 6-0 | 180 | 03/31/84 | Palm Coast, Fla. | Fulham FC (England) | 37/12 |
| Kljestan, Sacha | M | 6-1 | 150 | 09/09/85 | Huntington Beach, Calif. | Chivas USA | 20/3 |
| Marshall, Chad | D | 6-4 | 190 | 08/22/84 | Riverside, Calif. | Columbus Crew | 10/1 |
| McCarty, Dax | M | 5-9 | 150 | 04/30/87 | Winter Park, Fla. | FC Dallas | 0/0 |
| Pearce, Heath | D | 5-10 | 175 | 08/13/84 | Modesto, Calif. | FC Dallas | 28/0 |
| Perkins, Troy | GK | 6-2 | 190 | 07/20/81 | Worthington, Ohio | Valerenga IF (Norway) | 6/0 |
| Rogers, Robbie | M | 5-10 | 165 | 05/12/87 | Huntington Beach, Calif. | Columbus Crew | 7/1 |
| Spector, Jonathan | D | 6-0 | 180 | 03/01/86 | Arlington Heights, Ill. | West Ham United (England) | 21/0 |
Slovakia Roster
| Pos. | Player | DoB (Age) | Caps | Goals | Club | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Ján Mucha | December 5, 1982 (age 26) | 12 | 0 |  Legia Warszawa | |||
| GK | Dušan Kuciak | May 21, 1985 (age 24) | 2 | 0 |  Vaslui | |||
| GK | Ľuboš Kamenár | June 17, 1987 (age 22) | 1 | 0 |  Nantes | |||
| DF | Radoslav Zabavník | September 16, 1980 (age 29) | 39 | 1 |  Terek Grozny | |||
| DF | Marek Čech | January 26, 1983 (age 26) | 37 | 5 |  West Bromwich Albion | |||
| DF | Martin Petráš | November 2, 1979 (age 30) | 36 | 1 |  Cesena | |||
| DF | Martin Škrtel | December 15, 1984 (age 24) | 35 | 5 | Liverpool | |||
| DF | Ján Ďurica | December 10, 1981 (age 27) | 32 | 1 | Lokomotiv Moscow | |||
| DF | Peter Pekarík | October 30, 1986 (age 23) | 16 | 1 |  Wolfsburg | |||
| DF | Kornel Saláta | January 4, 1985 (age 24) | 3 | 0 |  Slovan Bratislava | |||
| MF | Miroslav Karhan | June 21, 1976 (age 33) | 94 | 13 | Mainz 05 | |||
| MF | Marek Hamšík | July 27, 1987 (age 22) | 27 | 7 | Napoli | |||
| MF | Marek Sapara | July 31, 1982 (age 27) | 22 | 2 |  Rosenborg | |||
| MF | Ján Kozák | April 22, 1980 (age 29) | 19 | 2 | Slovan Bratislava | |||
| MF | Zdeno Štrba | June 9, 1976 (age 33) | 17 | 0 |  Skoda Xanthi | |||
| MF | Dušan Švento | August 1, 1985 (age 24) | 16 | 1 |  Red Bull Salzburg | |||
| MF | Miroslav Stoch | October 19, 1989 (age 20) | 7 | 1 |  Twente | |||
| MF | Kamil Kopúnek | May 18, 1984 (age 25) | 6 | 0 | Spartak Trnava | |||
| MF | Vladimír Weiss | November 30, 1989 (age 19) | 5 | 0 | Manchester City | |||
| MF | Juraj Kucka | February 26, 1987 (age 22) | 3 | 0 |  Sparta Praha | |||
| FW | Róbert Vittek | April 1, 1982 (age 27) | 66 | 18 | Lille | |||
| FW | Stanislav Šesták | December 16, 1982 (age 26) | 27 | 9 | Bochum | |||
| FW | Martin Jakubko | February 26, 1980 (age 29) | 20 | 4 | FC Moscow | |||
| FW | Erik Jendrišek | October 26, 1986 (age 23) | 10 | 2 | Kaiserslautern | |||
