Squads named for Gold Cup

The US, Canada and Jamaica have named their squads for June’s CONCACAF Gold Cup, with Freddy Adu among the surprise inclusions.

Held biennially, the tournament will again be staged in the US, beginning on June 5 when Costa Rica tackle Cuba at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas.

Three groups of four will take part, with the top two from each and the two best third-ranked sides making the quarter-finals.

Bob Bradley’s US squad includes former teen prodigy Freddy Adu, who now plays in Turkey’s second tier for Caykur Rizespor and has not been called up by his country since the 2009 Gold Cup.

In his fourth loan away from parent club Benfica of Portugal, Adu has scored four goals in 12 TFF First League appearances

The US have 11 players in their squad that have a Gold Cup title to their name, with forward Landon Donovan of the Los Angeles Galaxy part of three successful campaigns.

Saint-Etienne defender Carlos Bocanegra captains the squad, which includes seven MLS players.

Canada are without long-time captain Paul Stalteri, with the Borussia Moenchengladbach defender unable to take his place through injury.

But experienced quartet Atiba Hutchinson (PSV Eindhoven), Julian De Guzman (Toronto FC), Dwayne de Rosario (New York Red Bulls) and Ali Gerba (Montreal Impact) have made manager Steve Hart’s squad, which is aiming to win its second-ever Gold Cup.

Stoke City striker Ricardo Fuller is an absentee for Jamaica due to injury, joining fellow forward Kavin Bryan on the sidelines.

Reggae Boyz manager Theodore Whitman has included veterans Ian Goodison (Tranmere Rovers), 38, and Tyrone Marshall (Colorado Rapids), 36, as well as Galaxy goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts and Red Bulls forward Dane Richards.

In squads named earlier, Mexico have dropped goalkeeper Jose de Jesus of Cruz Azul after he was found guilty of headbutting a Morelia trainer, with his spot taken by Monterrey’s Jonathan Orozco.

Five-time Gold Cup winners and title holders Mexico will take part in July’s Copa America, though CONCACAF have requested they select an under-22 squad in addition to five overage players for the tournament in Argentina.

Honduras’ squad includes Tottenham midfielder Wilson Palacios, Celtic’s Emilio Izaguirre and Wigan duo Hendry Thomas and Maynor Figueroa, while El Salvador selected Californian-born defender Steven Purdy in place of omitted naturalised Brazilian Marcelo Messias.

Costa Rica will be led by FC Twente striker Bryan Ruiz, but manager Ricardo La Volpe had no room for defender Roy Miller (New York Red Bulls).

US squad: Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Tim Howard (Everton), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake), Carlos Bocanegra (Saint-Etienne), Jonathan Bornstein (UANL Tigres), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Clarence Goodson (Brondby), Eric Lichaj (Leeds), Oguchi Onyewu (FC Twente), Tim Ream (New York Red Bulls), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United), Freddy Adu (Rizespor), Michael Bradley (Aston Villa), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (New England Revolution), Jermaine Jones (Blackburn Rovers), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls), Jozy Altidore (Bursaspor), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes).

Canada squad: Lars Hirschfeld (Valerenga), Milan Borjan (Rad, Serbia), Haidar Al-Shaïbani (Nimes), Dejan Jakovic (D.C. United), Jaime Peters (Ipswich Town), Kevin McKenna (Cologne), Andre Hainault (Houston Dynamo), Nik Ledgerwood (SV Wehen Wiesbaden, Mike Klukowski (unaffiliated), Julian de Guzman (Toronto FC) Terry Dunfield (Vancouver Whitecaps), Will Johnson (Real Salt Lake), Josh Simpson (Manisaspor), Pedro Pacheco (Santa Clara), Atiba Hutchinson (PSV Eindhoven), Tosaint Ricketts (Politehnica Timipoara), Simeon Jackson (Norwich City), Marcel de Jong (Augsburg), Jonathan Beaulieu-Bourgault (Muenster), Issey Nakajima-Farran (Horsens), Rob Friend (Hertha Berlin, Ali Gerba (Montreal Impact), Dwayne De Rosario (New York Red Bulls).

Jamaica squad: Donovan Ricketts (LA Galaxy), Dwayne Miller (Syrianska FC), Duwayne Kerr (Strommen Il), Shavar Thomas (Sporting Kansas), Jermaine Taylor (Houston Dynamo), Demar Phillips (Aalesund), Adrian Reid (Portmore), Eric Vernon (Portmore), Dicoy Williams (Toronto FC), Omar Daley (unattached), Jason Morrison (Aalesund), Richard Edwards (Harbour View), Jevaughn Watson (Houston Dynamo), Damian Williams (Nybergsund Il), Keammar Daley (Tivoli), Rodolph Austin (SK Brann), Navion Boyd (Tivoli), Dane Richards (New York Red Bulls), Ryan Johnson (San Jose Earthquakes), Omar Cummings (Colorado Rapids), Luton Shelton (Valerenga FC), Ian Goodison (Tranmere), Tyrone Marshall (Colorado Rapids).