U.S. National Team coach Bob Bradley named his 18-man roster that will face South Africa next Wednesday in Cape Town for the Nelson Mandela Challenge (2 p.m, ESPN2). And the roster includes Red Bulls Tim Ream and Juan Agudelo, a 17-yearold phenom who came up through their academy and started to make an impact at the end of the year.
“This game is a good opportunity to look at some different players and assess their place in the pool as we continue to build for the next cycle,” Bradley said in a release. “With our immediate focus on the Gold Cup next summer, this game in many ways is just as much the start of 2011 as it is the end of a great year.”
Players out of season begin arriving into Cape Town on Saturday evening, with players with matches to play scheduled to arrive Monday. The roster includes five players from this summer’s World Cup, where the U.S. won Group C before going out in the Round of 16 _ Jonathan Bornstein, striker Robbie Findley, Clarence Goodson, Brad Guzan and Jonathan Spector.
The roster is evenly split with players based in MLS and abroad. On the domestic front, the Columbus Crew contributes the most players, sending a trio of midfielders to South Africa.The league players include Ream and MLS Defender of the Year finalist Nat Borchers.
Agudelo and Gale Agbossoumonde are the first two alumni from U.S. Soccer’s Development Academy to participate in a training camp with the full Men’s National Team. Agudelo – who signed a Homegrown Player contract with New York Red Bulls and appeared in both of their playoff tilts – made two appearances at the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Nigeria, while Agbossoumonde, originally from Togo, captained the U-20s to the championship at the 2010 Milk Cup in Ireland. Agudelo was named MVP of the Milk Cup final.
Ream, Mikkel Diskerud and Teal Bunbury will also be getting their first opportunity with the national team. Diskerud made two appearances for the U.S. at the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt, while Bunbury, who holds dual citizenship with the United States and Canada, is entering his first camp for the U.S. at any level. Goalkeeper Dominic Cervi was in camp previously but has yet to make an appearance, meaning a total of six players on the roster will be in search of their first cap.
The Nelson Mandela Challenge, an annual one-off event typically hosted in South Africa, began in 1994 and has seen South Africa face opponents like Brazil, Argentina, Holland, Nigeria and a host of others. That’s where Bradley handded Freddy Adu his first start and Jozy Altidore his first cap.
