The usual cast of characters have been called into action for two upcoming friendlies this month against Argentina (March 26th) and Paraguay (March 29th). U.S. national team manager Bob Bradley leaned on guys like Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey and Carlos Bocanegra once again. But he also called in a couple surprise players.

This will be the first time since last year’s World Cup that the USMNT plays with their “A” Team. The team will come together in Cary, NC for training camp next week before their match in New Jersey against Argentina. The Paraguay match is set to be played in Nashville.

Here is the full squad:

GOALKEEPERS-Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Tim Howard (Everton), David Yelldell (MSV Duisburg)

DEFENDERS-Carlos Bocanegra (Saint-Etienne), Jonathan Bornstein (UANL Tigres), Timothy Chandler (FC Nürnberg), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Vancouver Whitecaps), Oguchi Onyewu (FC Twente), Tim Ream (New York Red Bulls), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United), Zak Whitbread (Norwich City)

MIDFIELDERS-Michael Bradley (Aston Villa), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Mikkel Diskeruud (Stabaek), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus), Stuart Holden (Bolton Wanderers), Jermaine Jones (Blackburn Rovers), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht)

FORWARDS-Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls), Jozy Altidore (Bursaspor), Edson Buddle (FC Ingolstadt)

Notes:

- Interesting to see newcomers Yelldell, Chandler and Whitbread called in here for this camp. I’ve heard plenty of good things about Chandler.

- Only four MLSers called in for this camp, which should make most MLS coaches happy.

Will Lionel Messi and Argentina live up to expectations?

By Geoff Reid

This particular group intrigues me, not because it contains Messi, Maradona and company, but because it has gone under the radar in terms of attention with Group C getting most of it on both sides of the Atlantic for obvious reasons, and Group G being classed as the “group of death.” Drew mentioned in his Group A preview that that particular group could be one of the most competitive ones in the whole field, and while that is true, Group B might just be a lot more even then some folks will realize and predict.

Argentina: The clear favorites to top the group and advance as a top seed for obvious reason. On paper, they have the strongest squad, the world’s best player in Lionel Messi, and an embarrassment of talent at their disposal. The fact that the Champions League winning pair from Inter Milan Javier Zanetti and Esteban Cambiasso don’t even make the 30 man provisional squad shows that. Quite frankly the biggest question mark over this team is not the players, it’s the manager Diego Maradona. Easily the best player of his generation and in the top five best players ever produced in the world has had his fair share of health problems in recent years and that’s no secret to anyone which is why he was chosen to manage the national side was a surprise to everyone. The squad barely avoided the playoff against the forth nation from CONCACAF which ended up being Costa Rica. The list of surprises Maradona has given us all could go on for days and days, but the squad is picked and ready to go. This side will run into an unpredictable Nigeria first, much like themselves. The second match will have them go up against a well drilled South Korean squad who have some very underrated players, while finishing the group stage against what should be a stubborn Greece side. Messi is the obvious key, but the pressure should not be all on him, and there is plenty of it in the Argentina lineup to go round with the likes of Diego Milito, Gonzalo Higuain, Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tevez, and captain Javier Mascherano.

Greece: The Greeks finished second to Switzerland in their qualifying group and ended up beating the Ukraine in the two legged playoff to advance to their first world cup since USA ’94 where not only did they lose all three group matches, but did not score a single goal. A lot has changed in the last 16 years though, and in-particular their victory in Euro 2004. German coach Otto Rehhagel molded a champion out of defense first and proved to the rest of the world that the term “defense” can really win you championships which upset a lot of purists. Knowing that Greece didn’t have the luxury with talent to win on talent alone, he made his squad unbreakable and counter attacked very well. Expect the same from the Greeks in this tournament. They will be well drilled and stubborn. Main striker Fanis Gekas was top scorer in European qualifying with 10 goals and if he can catch fire, Greece will have every chance of qualifying.

Nigeria: The Super Eagles were handed a fairly kind draw comapred to their African counterparts, but this year’s team is a little different to previous sides. What’s particularly striking is that this year’s side lack that playmaker while past Nigerian world cup squads have had multiple players that could fill that role. Gone are the days of Jay-Jay Okocha and Sunday Oliseh. The current side do have two decent stikers in Obafemi Martins and Yakubu, but both have been rather inconsistent during national team play. The midfield is also talented with holding midfielders in Chelsea’s John Obi Mikel, and Fulham’s Dickson Etuhu, but lack that creative spark. The manager expected to guide the squad this tournament is Swede Lars Lagerback who has disciplined Sweden sides in previous tournaments and he is expected to bring exactly that to the table here. With the squad lacking a real creative spark in the midfield, Lagerback might have been a better choice then originally expected with his style as a disciplined, defensive coach.

South Korea: This year’s South Korean side is a little different in that in this tournament their manager is home grown, Huh Jung-moo, instead of being Dutch with Guus Hiddink taking the country to 4th place as a co-host nation in 2002, and Dick Advocaat in 2006. The squad has trust in the manager, and he guided them through qualifying with ease. The real test is again seeing how the team competes with other nations outside the Asian confederation. With a number of players playing overseas, mostly in Europe, they have players who know how to get the job done. Most notable is captain and Manchester United player Park Ji-sung, a solid player who is a workhorse that will run all day long for the cause. Another accomplished Premiership player, Lee Chung-yong for Bolton Wanderers is gifted technically. Celtic midfielder Ki Sung-yong has been one of the most talked about footballers in Asia over the last 18 months and has a bright future ahead of him. Expected to score the goals will be AS Monaco striker Park Chu-young who is the poster boy for South Korean football. The second is very much within reach for this group.

Group B Prediction:

This is a real tough one, tougher then originally anticipated. Before I give my predictions I believe all four sides have a good chance at qualifying for the last 16. I also would not at all be surprised if Argentina failed to reach the knockout phase because Maradona seems to have the squad in a mess. However, in saying that, the Argentines are blessed with talent and can get by this part of the tournament on talent alone so I believe they will end up qualifying unconvincingly. The side to join them I believe will be South Korea. The South Koreans have never reached the knockout phase outside of their home soil, and I fully expect them to get it done this time. They have enough experience now where just like the USA, they’ve qualified for enough world cups in a row where exiting at the group stage would be a failure.

South Korea 7pts
Argentina 5pts
Greece 3pts
Nigeria 1pt

Out of the three friendlies, this was by far the best game. It was like we’ve built this up over the course of the three matches. England, as mentioned before, was disappointing on all levels. Spain was a positive step forward but in the end we showed we ran out of gas. But tonight’s clash with Argentina proved to me and a lot of people that this US side will be able to handle the best sides in the world.

I won’t recap the entire game because I honestly missed a few minutes here and there for work related reasons (blame the schedule for me being on-call this weekend…).

But a few thought on the game itself:

• Tim Howard – Easily the man of the match. So many key saves in big moments of the game. How he isn’t in discussions for one of the world’s best keepers is beyond me. That game tonight proved he is worthy of being in the discussion if he wasn’t already. Good luck to Brad Guzan or Dominic Cervi for beating this guy out for the starting role over the next few years. He has it on lock down.
• Speaking of having a position locked down. Heath Pearce easily has the left back position on lock down now. Damn how he intrigues me. Proves yet again how the MLS fails at signing home grown talent at a good wage. This guy is really improving his game on all ends any more.
• Eddie Johnson, again not bad but nothing great. His bar is still so low that it almost doesn’t matter what he does but his pace can be effective.
• Clint Dempsey actually looked good in this one. After the last two matches he looked practically useless out there but tonight he was effective, making solid runs and really working hard.
• Same goes for Michael Bradley.
• Landon Donovan elevates this club more than we really believe. He wasn’t great tonight but his work ethic out there shows.
• I loved the energy that the US came out with in the second half. Very promising.
• Argentina had the bulk of chances in the game but the US probably came a little closer with a couple post-hitting shots.
• Argentina is a completely different squad without Messi in the line up. As good as they looked all night, without him they lacked a certain element to their game.
• How Julio Cruz missed all of those shots at point blank against Howard is still pretty amazing. I thought he would have at least nailed on in after a while but Howard had his number tonight.
• Weird second yellow to Pablo Mastronei, who had a decent night. The yellow-to-red shouldn’t have been called but at least the US weren’t down a man for too long.
• Nice to see Sasha Kljestan out there tonight, even in a substitute role.
• Great crowd (78,682), too bad it was nasty rain at the end of it though. Still even as big as Giants Stadium is you can deny its a solid venue for soccer when it is full.
• I think the US looks fit and ready for World Cup qualifying now. We should get rosters early this week for the Barbados game this coming weekend.

What else did I miss? Feel free to pipe in your own.

Goalkeeper Dominic Cervi, forward Kenny Cooper and defender Drew Moor. Cooper and Moor were called in late Friday just in case any of the original 19 players would not be available because of lingering injuries. Cervi is the wasteful third keeper, I guess they scratch him late just in case Howard or Guzan can’t go, thus finally explaining the three-keeper call-up that I’ve been wondering about.

Carlos Bocanegra and Josh Wolff are not on the roster because of family commitments. Both will be available for next weekend’s World Cup qualifying opener against Barbados at Home Depot Center out in Carson, CA. Bocanegra is certain to be named to the roster, Wolff probably shouldn’t be so lucky from what we saw in the two European friendlies out of him.

The status of the roster for that match could be announced at anytime in the upcoming week. Hopefully that will come earlier in the week so we can discuss it more. Though I fully expect it to be a roster similar to what we’ve seen lately in the three friendlies.

Back to the Euro games and then on to the MLS/US National team games tonight. Lovely weekend of soccer.

Many felt Cooper should have been on the initial 19-man roster yesterday but some change of heart by Bob Bradley as he adds the two Dallas players the day before the match. Its a good inclusion on the part of Cooper considering Bradley only called up three forwards for the match. Cooper should see some playing time then, especially if Landon Donovan isn’t fit to play again. I highly doubt Moor will get any playing time but you never know.

Here is the full 21-man USA roster for Sunday’s friendly at Giants Stadium:

Goalkeepers- Dominic Cervi (out of contract), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton FC)

Defenders- Dan Califf (FC Midtjylland), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Drew Moor (FC Dallas).

Midfielders- Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Eddie Lewis (Derby County), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids)

Forwards- Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Eddie Johnson (Fulham FC), Kenny Cooper (FC Dallas).

Here is the 19-man roster:

Goalkeepers- Dominic Cervi (out of contract), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton FC)

Defenders- Dan Califf (FC Midtjylland), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock)

Midfielders- Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Eddie Lewis (Derby County), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids)

Forwards- Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Eddie Johnson (Fulham FC)

No Kenny Cooper, no Robbie Rogers. I know Jozy Altidore was hurt yesterday but he’s not healthy enough for this one? Its all a bit surprising to see some of the same names. Thankfully no Nate Jaqua or Josh Wolff for this one.

I’m still confused about the three keeper call-up here for this game. Do we really need a back-up for the back-up?

Anyways, hopefully Donovan and Adu will be able to go a full 90 or at least the majority of the game. I think the US should be able to play fine with Argentina. Though after the other night when Argentina dominated Mexico, I really wonder how the US can stand up against this team.

What do you all see for this friendly on Sunday? Another loss? If so by how much?