Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Associated Press
EAST HARTFORD, Conn.
When practice is over and Alejandro Bedoya gets back to his hotel room, he meditates and prays.
As cutdown day approaches for the U.S. soccer team, coach Bob Bradley can sense nerves are increasing for players on the bubble.
“You say to yourself, I’ve been this far. How much closer can I come?” said Bedoya, a 23-year midfielder who didn’t make his national team debut until January. “You’re so close. You don’t want to just not make it because maybe the extra effort wasn’t in there or that extra play wasn’t in there to get you through it.”
Final decisions should fall into place after tonight’s exhibition against Czech Republic, the first of three warmups ahead of the World Cup opener against England on June 12.
Just 23 of the 30 players can dress for the match at Rentschler Field, and only six substitutes can be used. Plans are underway for Bradley to make a televised announcement of his 23-man roster on Wednesday at ESPN’s studios in nearby Bristol.
Bradley’s preliminary roster that began practice May 17 had three goalkeepers, nine defenders, 12 midfielders and six forwards, and no cuts were made as the group bused north Sunday after a week of training at Princeton, N.J. The average for final rosters is 3-8-8-4, and Bradley hopes to reach FIFA’s 23-man limit by the time the team heads to Philadelphia on Wednesday ahead of a weekend exhibition against Turkey.
“It is really important now to get to 23. It’s important for the group that’s going to know they’re going,” Bradley said. “The nerves that you sense at times — once the decisions are made, a little of that goes away. We can then begin sort of next steps in the team-building process.”
At forward, only Jozy Altidore is assured a berth, but Brian Ching is likely if his hamstring is healthy. Edson Buddle, Herculez Gomez, Eddie Johnson and Robbie Findley are in competition.