US names roster for Confederations Cup

All-time US scoring leader Landon Donovan and Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard were among the 23-man roster named Sunday by coach Bob Bradley to the United States roster for the Confederations Cup.

The American squad, featuring 17 European-based players, will depart Monday for South Africa to begin training in Pretoria ahead of matches June 15 against Italy, June 18 against Brazil and June 21 against Egypt.

“The FIFA Confederations Cup is a great opportunity to play against top level competition and gain further experience competing in tough games,” Bradley said.

“Equally important is the chance for our team to experience the environment in South Africa, everything from travel to food to weather. We believe the experience will be invaluable if we qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.”

The US squad enhanced the chances of that with a 2-1 World Cup qualifying victory over Honduras here on Saturday.

Steve Cherundolo and Frankie Hejduk, both wing backs, are injured and not part of the lineup for the Americans, who will play next month in the Gold Cup on home soil before resuming World Cup qualifying in August at Mexico.

US Confederations Cup roster

Goaltenders: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Luis Robles (Kaiserslautern)

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Danny Califf (Midtjylland), Jay DeMerit (Watford), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)

Midfielders: Freddy Adu (AS Monaco), DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), José Francisco Torres (Pachuca)

Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Xerez), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Charlie Davies (Hammarby), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy)