Two Former Clemson Players Listed on US Men’s National Team Preliminary Roster For 2010 World Cup

May 12, 2010

CHICAGO, IL – U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Bob Bradley has submitted to FIFA the 30-man preliminary roster for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. From this list, a squad of 23 players must be chosen by June 1 for the final roster that will travel to South Africa. The 30 players will begin reporting to Princeton, N.J., on May 15 for the start of training camp, with field sessions beginning two days later.

Among the 30 players are two former Clemson standouts, defender Oguchi Onyewu and midfielder Stuart Holden.

Holden played at Clemson in 2003 and 2004. He was named second team All-ACC in 2004.

Onyewu played for Clemson in the 2000 and 2001 seasons and was named to the Soccer America MVP team and an NSCAA All-American in 2001. Onyewu was also a Hermann Award Finalist in 2001.

During his career at Clemson, Onyewu was named first-team All-ACC in 2000 and 2001. He scored the game-winning goal in the Tigers’ ACC Championship match vs. North Carolina (11-3-01) and netted two goals in the closing minutes of the NCAA tournament match vs. Alabama-Birmingham (12-2-01). He was also named to the ACC’s 50-Year Anniversary Team.

Onyewu was on the 2006 U.S. World Cup Team.

The U.S. will face two of the traditionally stronger teams from Europe in the Czech Republic and Turkey in the Send-Off Series prior to departing for South Africa. Nearly 25,000 tickets have already been sold for the match against Czech Republic on May 25 in East Hartford, Conn. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. ET, and the match will be broadcast live on ESPN and Galavision.

The final home tune-up match against Turkey will be played May 29 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, where almost 40,000 tickets have already been sold. ESPN2 and Galavision will broadcast the match live beginning at 2 p.m. ET.

For both matches, ESPN will be airing a special 30-minute pre-game show. Fans can also follow the games live on ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker and at twitter.com/ussoccer.

U.S. Training Camp Roster by Position GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton)

DEFENDERS (9): Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Jay DeMerit (Watford), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)

MIDFIELDERS (12): DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers), Alejandro Bedoya (Örebro), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Stuart Holden (Bolton), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), José Torres (Pachuca)

FORWARDS (6): Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Edson Buddle (Los Angeles Galaxy), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Herculez Gomez (Puebla), Eddie Johnson (Aris Thessaloniki)

“Throughout the past three years a number of players have contributed to our journey toward South Africa and we appreciate all of their efforts,” said Bradley. “We are very excited to get this group together to begin our pre-World Cup training camp as we continue to prepare for the challenge of the World Cup.”

The U.S. team will depart for South Africa on May 30, arriving the following day. The United States will play Australia on June 5 in Roodepoort, South Africa, one week before playing its first match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Kickoff at Ruimsig Stadium in suburban Johannesburg is set for 2:30 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m. ET), and the match will be broadcast live on ESPN2. Fans can also follow along live on ussoccer.com¹s MatchTracker and at twitter.com/ussoccer.

The U.S. Men’s National Team has been drawn into Group C with England, Slovenia and Algeria for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The U.S. will open its sixth consecutive World Cup finals tournament against England on June 12 in Rustenburg, and will follow that game with matches against Slovenia on June 18 in Johannesburg and Algeria on June 23 in Tshwane/Pretoria.