U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Bob Bradley will reveal the final 23-man roster that will compete in the 2010 FIFA World Cup this Wednesday, May 26 during a live broadcast of ESPN’s daytime SportsCenter. All the players selected for the tournament in South Africa will be on the ESPN campus for the announcement that will take place during the 1 p.m. ET hour of the show.
The U.S. team will have one last opportunity to play before the World Cup roster is decided when they take on the Czech Republic tonight in East Hartford, Conn. Kickoff at Rentschler Field is set for 8 p.m. ET, and the match will be broadcast live on ESPN and Galavision. ESPN will have a 30-minute pregame show beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET. Fans can also follow online via ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker and at twitter.com/ussoccer.
Tournament rules require that the final 23-man roster be submitted by June 1 to FIFA. A preliminary list of 30 players had to be submitted by May 11 by all 32 teams. According to a new regulation, the 23 players on the final roster must come from the original preliminary roster. Once the rosters are finalized, a team may replace an injured player up to 24 hours prior to their first match of the tournament. In this case, the replacement player does not have to be selected from the 30-man preliminary list.
Following the announcement, the U.S. will play their final home match before departing for South Africa when they face Turkey on May 29 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia (tickets), where more than 43,000 tickets have already been sold. ESPN2 and Galavision will broadcast the match live beginning at 2 p.m. ET. ESPN will have a 30-minute pregame show beginning at 1:30 p.m. ET.
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.
