If USA can send those players to 2010

USA 2010
Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index
USA All-Time Team
African American Players
German Americans/American Germans
Hispanic/Latino American Players(USA)
United Kingdom 1970
United Kingdom 1982
France 1994
Yugoslavia 1994
USA 2010
Holland 2002
England 1974

What if Argentina sent this team to Sweden 1958


The US Men National Team reached the quarter-final of World Cup Finals in 2010.  It was not the best ever showing by the US in the tournament, but the American fans would be thankful. However, in 2010, the USMNT was missing a few players who could have been eligible to represent them.  Neven Subotić, Jermaine Jones, Giuseppe Rossi and Vedad Ibišević were all finding successes playing at the highest level in Europe that season while Fabian Johnson was emerging as a player in Bundesliga.  The addition of the more established players playing in the top European leagues would have improved the team. Perhaps, the USMNT could have gone further.  Roger Espinoza who was playing in the MLS in 2010 should be eligible for the US team.

Added: Neven Subotić, Fabian Johnson, Jermaine Jones, Giuseppe Rossi, Vedad Ibišević.
Dropped: DaMarcus Beasley, Edison Buddle, Herculez Gomez, Clarence Goodson, Maurice Edu.

Note: Since this is a fun blog, the eligibility issue is overlooked. 
Vedad Ibišević and Fabian Johnson were the only two players who had issues with their eligibility for the US team in 2010.

Team
GK: Tim Howard (Everton)
He led the USA to the 2nd round at the World Cup Finals in 2014 with stunning performances throughout the tournament.  Howard started his career with the North Jersey Imperials before making a move to the MetroStars. His appearances soon attracted the attention of Manchester United, who signed him in 2003. He moved to Everton in 2007 where he was a star player.
Tim Howard
GK: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa)
Guzan was second overall pick in the 2005 MLS SuperDraft, signing for Chivas USA, with whom he was the 2007 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year. In July 2008, he joined Aston Villa for a fee of $1 million, where he has made over 100 Premier League. appearances.  Since 2006, he has been capped by the USA.  He is mainly a backup to Tim Howard. He went to South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014.

GK: Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
He played for the Seattle Sounders between 1994 and 1996 in the A-League before going to Colorado Rapids.  He signed with English club Fulham in 1999. Unable to become the first-choice goalkeeper at Fulham, he enjoyed loan spells with Rochdale and Reading, before signing permanently with Reading in 2002. Later, he also joined Wolverhampton Wanderers, Everton and Seattle Sounders(MLS) agains. He only won nine caps for the United States, largely because he was playing at the same time as Brad Friedel,  Kasey Keller, Tony Meola and Tim Howard.  He was a backup in two World Cups. 

RB: Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96)
He was the captain of Hannover 96 of the German Bundesliga, where he spent his entire club career.  He later served as its captain and set the team record for Bundesliga appearances.  He earned 87 caps and played for the United States men's national soccer team at the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups.
Steve Cherundolo
RB/CB: Jonathan Spector (West Ham)
Spector was a youth product of Manchester United. He played on loan at Charlton Athletic, then in 2006 joined West Ham United. He then spent five-and-a-half seasons with Birmingham City. In 2017, he joined Orlando City. He earned 36 cops and went to the WC Finals in 2010.

CB/LB: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes)
Bocanegra started his career playing NCAA soccer with UCLA.  He joined Chicago Fire in 2000. He also played professionally in England, Scotland, France, and Spain. He earned over 100 caps with the United States, serving as captain for six years. He played in the WC Finals of 2006 and 2010.
Carlos Bocanegra
CB: Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan)
During his professional career from 2002 to 2015 he played for clubs in France, Belgium, England, Italy, the Netherlands, and Portugal. His most prolific club years were with Standard Liege of the Belgian League with whom he made over 100 league appearances from 2004 to 2009, before moving to A.C. Milan in Italy.  At Milan, he was remembered for a big fight with Zlatan Ibrahimović during training.  Capped over 60 times.  He played in the WC Finals of 2006 and 2010.

CB: Neven Subotić (Borussia Dortmund) *new edition
Born in the former Yugoslavia, he moved to the US in 1999.  He joined 1.FSV Mainz 05 youth team making his first-team debut in the 2006–07 season. In 2008, he signed with Borussia Dortmund. From 2008 to 2016, he played for the club and was at one point considered the best defender in the Bundesliga. In 2017, he went to Koln.  Subotić played the youth team of the USA, but represented Serbia in the senior level. He earned 36 caps and went to the WC Finals in 2010.
Neven Subotić 
LB: Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA)
He was a son of a Mexican mother and a Jewish father.  Drafted by Chivas USA, he also played for Tigres de la UANL.  Now, he is with Queretaro in Mexico.  Capped over 30 times.  He went to South Africa 2010.

LWB/LW: Fabian Johnson (VfL Wolfsburg) *new addition
Johnson was born in Germany. He is the son of an African-American serviceman.  He began his career with 1860 Munich.  He also played for VfL Wolfsburg and Hoffenheim.  At the time of writing, he is playing for Borussia Mönchengladbach.  Capped by Germany at youth level, he played for USA at the senior level.  He went too Brazil 2014.

CM: Jermaine Jones (Schalke 04) *new addition
Born in Germany to an American father and German mother, he played for Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayer Leverkusen, Schalke 04, Besiktas,mBlackburn Rovers, New England Revolution.  At this moment, he is with Colorado Rapids. Jones represented Germany at the senior level, but not in an official game. He later filed for a switch to the United States. He made his debut for them in 2010 and played at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Jermaine Jones
CM: Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
The son of former US head coach Bob Bradley.  He played professionally in Germany, Holland, Italy, England and now, in MLS.  He was best-known for his stint with Borussia Mönchengladbach.  He was the first American player to play in Serie A since Alexi Lalas.  He played for Chievo Verona and Roma over there. At the time of writing, he earned 120 caps.  He played in the WC Finals in 2010 and 2014.  
Michael Bradley
CM: Jose Francisco Torres (Pachuca)
Torres was recruited by Pachuca while he was still attending high school in Texas. He broke into the starting lineup during the 2008 Apertura season in central midfield. He appeared in all three matches at the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup for Pachuca. In 2012, he was transferred to Tigres UANL. Capped 26 times at this moment.  He was a member of 2013 Gold Cup winning team.

SS/AM: Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy)
Donovan is perhaps the greatest American player of the modern era.  He is the all-time leading scorer for the NT.  He represented the USA at three WC Finals.  In 2002, he was named the best young player at the WC Finals. He was Honda Player of the Year for 6 times and US Soccer Athlete of the Year for 4 times and numerous awards in MLS.  He had a brief spell with Leverkusen before returning to MLS.  With LA Galaxy, he won four MLS Cup.
Landon Donovan

FW/AM: Clint Dempsey (Fulham)
He was perhaps the most successful American-born outfielder playing in Europe.  He was best remembered for playing for Fulham between 2007 and 2012.  He was their top-scorer for two seasons.  He was their Player of the Season twice.  He has also played for New England Revolution and Tottenham Hotspur. At the time of writing, he plays for Seattle Sounders.  He has over 130 caps and played in the WC Finals of 2006, 2010 and 2014.
Clint Dempsey 

FW: Robbie Findley(Real Salt Lake)
Findley played college soccer for the Oregon State Beavers and amateur soccer for the Boulder Rapids Reserve before turning professional in 2007; he played in Major League Soccer for Los Angeles Galaxy and Real Salt Lake, before moving to English club Nottingham Forest in January 2011. capped 11 times.  Three of the caps happened at the WC Finals in 2010.

FW: Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal) *new addition
When Rossi was 17, he was signed by English club Manchester United. He had loan spells with Newcastle United and Parma before joining Villarreal in 2007. After five-and-a-half years with Villarreal, he returned to Italy, signing for Fiorentina in January 2013. In January 2016, he was sent on loan to Spanish club Levante, while he spent the following season on loan with Celta. Born in the US, Rossi chose to represent Italy.  he made his debut for Azzuri in 2008, but injuries through his career limited him to 30 caps.
Giuseppe Rossi 
FW: Vedad Ibišević (1899 Hoffenheim) *new addition
His family moved to the US in 2001, where he played soccer in High School and college. In 2004, he joined PSG.  Then, he joined Alemannia Aachen, and on 12 July 2007, he moved to another German club, 1899 Hoffeneheim, where he played until 2012.  From 2012 to 2016, he played for Stuttgart. At the time of writing, he is with Hertha Berlin. In 2008, he was awarded the Idol Nacije award for Bosnian Footballer of the Year. From 2007 to 2017, Ibišević has earned over 80 caps for Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was selected for the 2014World Cup, where he scored Bosnia's first goal in a major tournament.

ST/FW: Jozy Altidore (Hull City)

Started with NY Red Bulls, Altidore moved to Europe in 2008, joining Villarreal in Spain.  he had loan spells with Hull city and Bursapor.  In 2011, he moved to AZ in Holland and to Sunderland in 2015.  At the time of writing, he played for Toronto FC.  Since 2007, he is a key player for the USA.  He has over 100 caps.  He played in both WC Finals in 2010 and 2014.

Jozy Altidore


Squad Explanation
-- Tim Howard, Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan, three of the greatest American soccer players, were at their prime. Tim Howard, Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan, three of the greatest American soccer players were at their prime. Steve Cherundolo, Carlos Bocanegra and Michael Bradley were also on my all-team for the USA
-- Jermaine Jones had declared his eligibility for the USMNT in 2009, but an injury prevented him from joining the team at the World Cup Finals.  Jones was 29 in 2010 at his prime.
-- Caoch Bob Bradley used Stuart Holden, Benny Feilhaber and Ricardo Clark frequently throughout 2009 and right before the WC Finals. Maurice Edu ended up as a hero at the WC Finals after he scored a goal against Slovenia.  However, he was seldom used during the WC qualifiers.  I assumed that he would be the most likely player to be dropped before the WC Finals based on the number of his appearance.Coach Bradley would not have known about his goal before he went to South Africa.
-- Neven Subotić was 21 in 2010, but had established himself as a star defender for Borussia Dortmund.   In the 2009–10 Bundesliga season, Subotić was one of only four players in the entire league to play every minute of every league match. He would replace Clarence Goodson on the roster. 
-- In the real world, Fabian Johnson did not become eligible to play for the USA until 2011.  In our imaginary world, he got his paper work ready by 2010.  In 2009, Johnson was a starter for Germany Under 21 team as they won the UEFA European Championship.  That team was widely considered to be a great team.  Manuel Neuer, Mats Hummels, Jérôme Boateng, Sami Khedira and Mesut Özil all played in the World Cup Finals in 2010.  However, the starting left back for the USA in 2010 was Carlos Bocanegra, their captain.  Meanwhile, Jonathan Bornstein was of one of Coach Bob Bradley's most frequently used players before the WC Finals.  appeared.  So Johnson probably would not unseat the two players. However, he took over the spot given to DaMarcus Beasley who seldom played for Rangers that season. Johnson could replace Beasley's speed on the left. DaMarcus Beasley was struggling with Rangers that season.  He got on the team, largely by his reputation as one of the best American players.  If Coach Bradley had a very good alternative, Beasley might have been dropped.
-- Vedad Ibišević scored 12 goals in Bundesliga that season, which made him one of the top scorers in the league.   He would make the World Cup team ahead of other American forwards. In real life, he came to the United States in 2001 as a high school student.  He was discovered by Paris St Germain and left for Europe before becoming an American citizen.  He never became eligible to play for the USA.  But since he went to the USA in 2001, he might have gained his US citizenship in a different situation.   
-- Without injuries, Giuseppe Rossi could have became one of the greatest American-born players ever, but injuries had kept him from reaching his potential.  In the summer of 2010, he was actually injured free.  The season before the World Cup Finals, he starred for Villarreal.  Coincidentally, Jozy Altidore was also a player under contract with Villarreal in 2010, but he was on loan to Hull City after failing to make an impact with the team.  That season, he only managed to score a single goal that season. Rossi seemed to ahead of him in 2010.
-- Jozy Altidore, Edison Buddle, Herculez Gomez and Robbie Findley went to South Africa. I needed to drop two of them to make rooms for Giuseppe Rossi and Vedad Ibišević.
-- In 2010, Jozy Altidore was projected to be the future of US Soccer.  So I am adding him to the team.
-- Edison Buddle had not played for the USA for 7 years before
the WC Finals, but he was great in the MLS right before the WC Finals.  Herculez Gomez's career was actually going downhill even as late as October, 2009 when he was released by Kansas City Wizards.  He suddenly experienced a career revival early in 2010 with Puebla in Mexico. Both players seemed to be in form that year. However,  Coach Bob Bradley started Robbie Findley in the first two World Cup matches, which probably meant that Coach Bradley had more confidence with Findley than Gomez and Buddle. So I selected Findley because it would probably be Coach Bradley's idea.
-- Roger Espinoza grew up in the US.  He was capped by Honduras since 2008. In 2010, he was playing in the MLS. In 2010, I prefer Fabian Johnson over him.

Formation
The formation is based upon the one used by Coach Bob Bradley against England on the first match. Carlos Bocanegra was used as a leftback on that match.



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