America, meet your final 30.
Jurgen Klinsmann named his preliminary roster on Monday for next month's World Cup in Brazil. And although it includes the obvious names – veterans Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, Tim Howard and Landon Donovan – there was one notable name left off: Eddie Johnson.
The 2006 World Cup veteran had one of his best years as a US national teamer in 2013, scoring five goals in 17 appearances and playing a crucial role in the Americans topping the CONCACAF Hexagonal. But Johnson has yet to log a goal in 2014 for D.C. United through eight matches and was left off the squad.
Eighteen-year-old Bayern Munich reserve attacker Julian Green, however, did make the cut, as did a handful of supposed bubble players: defenders John Brooks, Timmy Chandler and DeAndre Yedlin; midfielders Maurice Edu, Brad Davis, Joe Corona and Mix Diskerud; and forwards Terrence Boyd and Chris Wondolowski.
The 30 players will begin reporting to pre-World Cup camp on the campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., on Wednesday. Klinsmann must whittle the 30-man roster down to 23 and submit his official World Cup roster to FIFA by June 2.
“We had some difficult decisions to make, and we are very excited about the 30 players coming into camp," Klinsmann said in a statement. "There is competition in every position, and these next couple of weeks will allow us to make the final determinations on the best 23-man unit to represent the United States in the World Cup.”
Camp runs until May 25 and will conclude with a friendly against Azerbaijan at San Francisco's Candlestick Park on May 27 (7 pm PT, ESPN2/UniMas).
The team then heads east to face Turkey at Red Bull Arena on June 1 (11 am PT, ESPN2/UniMas) and Nigeria at Everbank Field in Jacksonville, Fla., on June 7 (3 pm PT, ESPN2/UniMas) before flying to Brazil. They'll then play a closed-door scrimmage against fellow World Cup participants Belgium on June 12 in São Paulo, where the USMNT will be based during the tournament.
The Americans open their World Cup against Ghana in Natal on June 16.
Here is the full 30-man roster:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa/England), Tim Howard (Everton/England), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
DEFENDERS (11): DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla/Mexico), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), John Brooks (Hertha Berlin/Germany), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City/England), Timmy Chandler (Nürnberg/Germany), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders FC), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Clarence Goodson (San Jose Earthquakes), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim/Germany), Michael Parkhurst (Columbus Crew), DeAndre Yedlin (Seattle Sounders)
MIDFIELDERS (10): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes/France), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana/Mexico), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Mix Diskerud (Rosenborg/Norway), Maurice Edu (Philadelphia Union), Julian Green (Bayern Munich/Germany), Jermaine Jones (Besiktas/Turkey), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
FORWARDS (6): Jozy Altidore (Sunderland/England), Terrence Boyd (Rapid Vienna/Austria), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders), Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Aron Johannsson (AZ Alkmaar/Netherlands), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)
