USA
Suspended Dempsey Left Off U.S. Roster for Germany Friendly
By Shane Killian
March 15, 2006
U.S. Men's National Team Manager Bruce Arena has left rising star Clint Dempsey off the roster for an important friendly against World Cup hosts Germany. Arena's men will take on the three time World Cup champions in Dortmund, Germany on March 22.
Dempsey was recently suspended for two weeks by the New England Revolution following an altercation with Revs' captain Joey Franchino. The club's suspension of Dempsey does not carry over to the national team so it's somewhat surprising that he was not called into camp based on his availability and recent form.
Dempsey was one of Arena's most effective players, and scored the game's lone goal, in their recent win over Poland. He's also a player clearly on the bubble of making the final 23 man World Cup roster and could have used another opportunity to impress Arena prior to next month's roster selection.
The roster for the Germany game is made up primarily of MLS players with several players based in Germany and England included. Holland based Cory Gibbs will be making his first national team appearance in nearly a year after recovering from a knee injury.
German clubs are required to release their players for the game so Germany will be able to field nearly their full squad.
The U.S. has yet to be defeated in 2006, compiling a record of 4-0-1 and raising the team's international profile. The game will be the team's first since moving into fifth place in the latest FIFA World Rankings.
U.S. Roster
Goalkeepers (2) – Marcus Hahnemann (Reading FC), Kasey Keller (Borussia Moenchengladbach)
Defenders (7) – Gregg Berhalter (Energie Cottbus), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Cory Gibbs (ADO Den Haag), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Heath Pearce (FC Nordsjælland), Eddie Pope (Real Salt Lake)
Midfielders (6) – Bobby Convey (Reading FC), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Chris Klein (Real Salt Lake), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids), Ben Olsen (D.C. United), Kerry Zavagnin (Kansas City Wizards)
Forwards (4) – Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Wizards), Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution), Josh Wolff (Kansas City Wizards)