• Chad Marshall’s performance in the Gold Cup has earned him a spot on the US squad for the trip to Azteca. Interestingly, this puts Marshall past foreign based players Michael Parkhurst, and Danny Califf. Consider this a major victory for MLS, and proof that the league is comparable in quality at its top level to any European league.
  • Freddy Adu is probably out of the national team mix for the rest of the 2010 cycle: Jose Torres is essentially the same player and I think it is clear Torres, left footed, small and creative has beaten him out. Playing at Pachuca, a North American super club beats not playing at all anywhere.
  • Stuart Holden’s inclusion is not a surprise but count me absolutely shocked by Conor Casey’s continued run in the first team for the United States. Perhaps a good start to Kenny Cooper’s 1860 Munich career can change this.
  • Bob Bradley is taking no chances dropping out of form Sacha Kljestan and perennially injured DaMarcus Beasley. Good moves on both counts.
  • DuNord’s Bruce McGuire and I had just finished taping our preview show for the game when this squad came out: so sadly, the show which will be released this weekend will not include squad analysis but general themes related to US-Mexico.
  • ESPN 2 will have extensive coverage of the match despite not broadcasting it. Bob Ley who called USMNT and USWNT matches in the 1990s on ABC returns to Soccer for the first time in almost a decade hosting a pregame and post-game show live from Azteca. Mun2 and Telemundo will show the matches with Phil Schoen and Marcelo Balboa handling the English language play by play while Andreas Cantor handles the Spanish language play by play.
  • The USMNT will gather in Miami early on Monday to train both Monday and Tuesday before traveling to Mexico City. As always, expect full coverage here at MLS Talk.

GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa: 5/3 SO), Tim Howard (Everton FC: 11/7 SO)
DEFENDERS (7): Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes: 21/3), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA, 2/0), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover: 18/0), Jay DeMerit (Watford: 2/0), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew: 0/0), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan: 16/1), Jonathan Spector (West Ham: 2/0)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach: 10/4), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo: 5/0), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC: 17/4), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus: 1/0), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo: 0/0), José Francisco Torres (Pachuca: 5/0)
FORWARDS (5): Jozy Altidore (Villarreal: 8/5), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids: 5/0), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo: 15/6), Charlie Davies (FC Sochaux: 2/1), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy: 30/11)
*numbers indicate all-time World Cup Qualifying caps/goals