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George writes:

Ok Fritz, I have answer for you. In the 2002 WC on a roster which was filled with such names as Carlos Llamosa, Joe-Max Moore and Earnie Stewart (geez, this seems like ancient history), the only players that didn’t get any PT were: Keller, Meola, Cherundolo and David Regis. If you don’t remember Regis, he was the guy who was born in Martinique and got his US citizenship about 5 minutes before France ’98 started (his wife was a US citizen).

Here’s some other interesting pieces of info when you look back on 2002:

1) Besides Friedel, the only players to go 90 in each of the US’s five games were Tony Sanneh and John O’Brien which is unbelievable when you think of all of the injuries they’ve had since then. Perhaps to get JOB healthy for Germany, he should only drink bottled water from the Far East.

2) Of the 23 players, only 10 had previous WC experiences. Some of the guys who had no WC experience and played major roles (caps in brackets): Friedel (76), Mastroeni (10), O’Brien (13), DMB (12), LD (23), Lewis (38), Mathis (22) & Sanneh (32).

3) Of those guys with no WC experience, some had basically just earned their first caps: Mastroeni (6/01), DMB (1/01) and LD (10/00).

4) Breakdown of Int’l vs. MLS players on our squad was 12 to 11, respectively. If you believe Arena’s recent statements, that should be about the same for 2006.

5) Roster breakdown was: GK - 3, D - 9, MF – 8 and FWD – 3. Pablo was listed as a defender even though he’s clearly a MF. Of the listed forwards, Wolff only played 67 minutes while McBride & Mathis played more significant roles.

Looking at the potential roster for 2006, here’s how I think it lays out:

GK (3) – Keller, Hahnemann & Howard are all locked in. Long shot that someone may sneak in and take Howard’s spot, but I think Bruce will take him as #3 since he’s most likely our #1 in 2010. Bruce seems to like Hartman the most, but he’s not real strong with the ball at his feet so he’s probably out.

Defenders (9) – Pope, Berhalter, Oneywu, Bocanegra, Cherundolo, Lewis & Heduk are definites. Guys that are fighting for those last two spots: Gibbs, Conrad, Dunivant and Pearce.

If it was today, he takes Conrad and Pearce as the other two are coming off injuries. If everyone is healthy and in good form, I think it’s Gibbs & Dunivant (I think that I’ve successfully hedged myself on that prediction!).

I know that Spector is on the roster for the Poland match, but I think that he hasn’t been playing regularly enough to be considered. Plus, he’s at a disadvantage to the other four as all of them can play outside on the left better than he can. At outside right, Frankie will be backing up Cherundolo so Spector won’t be needed there.

Midfield (8) – LD, DMB, Reyna, Convey & Dempsey are all in. Of the remaining three spots, I have JOB, Mastroeni, Zavagnin, Olsen, Noonan & Klein in the mix. With these three remaining spots, I think that he’ll take the two healthiest holding mids between the first four listed and an outside attacking right-sided midfielder.

Again, if everyone is healthy and in good form, I think that he takes JOB & Pablo as his holding mids and Noonan as his right-sided AM. Big chance for KZ and Klein in the Poland match with their main competition being sidelined with injuries. Olsen surprised me with his cracker of a goal on Sunday, but unfortunately, it was probably too late.

Forwards (3) – McBride, Twellman and EJ are locked in. Wolff has an outside shot which I’m sure that he’ll either sky over the goal or pass it off…seriously, if his shooting woes continue, he’s not going to Germany. His speed is great and his work rate can never be questioned, but that’s not enough to do it for me.

Of course, Bruce can always move LD up front and if Noonan makes the team, he could play there too. Ching & Rolfe might each get another shot, but their windows have probably closed for ’06.

So that’s my roster of 23 on 2/25. Please keep in mind, I could change my mind in another month since the last time that I did this, Santino Quaranta was on the squad…yikes.