As expected, Jimmy Conrad’s feint chance of a World Cup spot did not survive last month’s letdown against Honduras. Conrad was tossed from the Jan. 23 friendly match at the Home Depot Center after only 17 minutes. The Yanks went down in flames, 3-1, in one of their poorest performances in recent memory.

So Conrad was not among the 23 players invited by U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Bob Bradley to the training camp roster that will kick off Feb. 10 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

The group, comprised entirely of domestic-based players, does include Michael Orozco, the newest member of the newest team in Major League Soccer. The Philadelphia Union, who join the league this year as its 16th team, acquired the rights to Orozco from the New York Red Bulls on Jan. 29.

The team will prepare for the USA’s second match of 2010, a friendly against El Salvador on Feb. 24 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN Classic and TeleFutura beginning at 7 p.m. ET.

The group features 23 players from Major League Soccer, many of whom were a part of the training camp which opened 2010 last month. Twenty-one players return from that roster, including 10 of the starting 11 from the Jan. 23 match against Honduras. The match against El Salvador will be one of the last games before the 2010 FIFA World Cup roster is named in May and gives the group a chance to make an impression on Bradley’s coaching staff with an eye towards South Africa.

Brian Ching is the roster’s leading capwinner with 43 appearances and also its leading goalscorer with 10 goals. The Houston Dynamo veteran made 10 World Cup qualifying appearances during the USA’s run to South Africa, scoring four times and adding one assist. Heath Pearce is second in the squad with 29 caps, including nine starts during World Cup qualifying, while defender Jonathan Bornstein’s 26 appearances, including four at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, provide more experience at the back. Conversely, there are four uncapped players in Bradley’s squad. Kevin Alston, Geoff Cameron, Omar Gonzalez and Chris Pontius were all part of the January training camp but did not feature in the game against Honduras.

Tampa, one of 18 cities that will be included in the USA’s bid to host the FIFA World Cup in 2018 or 2022, will be playing host to the U.S. team for the fifth time. In the USA’s last visit to Raymond James Stadium on March 25, 2007, Landon Donovan recorded the second hat trick of his career as the U.S. cruised to a 3-1 victory against Ecuador.

Five players featured in World Cup qualifying against El Salvador during 2009. Pearce and Kljestan took part in the March 28 match in San Salvador, which finished 2-2, while Marshall, Bornstein and Kyle Beckerman all featured in the Sept. 5 come-from-behind 2-1 win in Sandy, Utah.

Following the El Salvador match, the United States will play third-ranked Netherlands on March 3 in Amsterdam.
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.

ASN readers are encouraged to make use of our USMNT schedule application for ical and Google Calendar.

U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION

GOALKEEPERS (3): Troy Perkins (D.C. United), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake), Zach Thornton (Chivas USA)
DEFENDERS (7): Kevin Alston (New England Revolution), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles Galaxy), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Michael Orozco (Philadelphia Union), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)
MIDFIELDERS (9): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders), Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Dax McCarty (FC Dallas), Chris Pontius (D.C. United), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)
FORWARDS (4): Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Jeff Cunningham (FC Dallas), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake)