Seven players from English clubs set for US friendlies

Thirteen World Cup players, seven from English Premiership sides, were among 20 named Thursday to the United States roster for upcoming football friendly matches against Poland and Colombia.

The Americans, ousted by Ghana in the round of 16 in South Africa last June, will face Poland at Chicago on October 9 and meet Colombia in suburban Philadelphia on October 12.

US coach Bob Bradley went with a largely Europe-based unit for the matches because Major League Soccer is in the final weeks of its playoff chase, so Los Angeles Galaxy star Landon Donovan is not among those in the lineup.

“This is a fantastic opportunity to gather many of our players based in Europe and continue to build on the foundation we established during the last four years,” Bradley said.

“We believe we have a strong nucleus of talented players, many of whom we are going to challenge to assume greater leadership roles during the next four-year cycle. We certainly have ideas on how we want to move forward, and these games will be the start of that process.”

Everton’s Tim Howard and Aston Villa’s Brad Guzan were named as goalkeepers Other Premiership players are Fulham teammates Clint Dempsey and Eddie Johnson, West Ham’s Jonathan Spector, Villa’s Eric Lichaj and Bolton’s Stuart Holden.

Villarreal striker Jozy Altidore is back from the World Cup along with Michael Bradley and Steve Cherundolo.

Also chosen were Carlos Bocanegra of French leaders Saint-Etienne, Maurice Edu of Scottish leaders and defending champions Rangers and Benny Feilhaber, who has five goals in his past three matches for Danish pace-setter AGF Aarhus.

FC Schalke midfielder Jermaine Jones, out for nearly a year with a shin injury, has a chance for his first cap.

The US squad will travel to South Africa to face the World Cup hosts in a November 17 friendly at Cape Town.