The United States has three Pre-World Cup tuneup games, but coach Bob Bradley won’t take that long to make his cuts for the final team. He’ll reveal the 23 men who made the final cut Wednesday during the 1 p.m. “SportsCenter” on ESPN.
The United States plays the Czech Republic tonight in East Hartford, Conn., at Rentschler Field (8 p.m., ESPN). Bradley and his staff will make their decision after that game and likely spend Saturday’s in Philadelphia fine-tuning the 23-man roster
They have to submit the roster to FIFA by June 1. Once the rosters are finalized, a team may replace an injured player up to 24 hours prior to their first match of the tournament. In this case, the replacement player does not have to be selected from the 30-man preliminary list.
Following the announcement, the U.S. team will play its final home match before departing for South Africa when they face Turkey on May 29 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, with over 43,000 tickets sold. That game is at 2 p.m. on ESPN2.
The United States is in Group C with England, Slovenia and Algeria for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The U.S. team will open its sixth consecutive World Cup tournament against England on June 12 in Rustenburg, and will follow that game with matches against Slovenia on June 18 in Johannesburg and Algeria on June 23 in Tshwane/Pretoria.