In a few short hours, American soccer's favorite Ivy-Leaguer in sweatpants will read 30 names off of a sheet of paper, and they will form the provisional World Cup squad. Until then, however, I have an excellent opportunity to try and get into Bobbo's brain and speculate wildly. For the sake of simplicity, I'll assume that list includes 4 keepers, 10 defenders, 10 midfielders, and 6 strikers.


First off, we can include the guys we know are going to make it. Landon Donovan, Timmeh Howard, and Bob's kid are all going, and thanks to ESPNDeportes, we know Chuck D will be there, too.


With those guys plugged in, the squad looks like this so far:

GK (2/4): Howard, Guzan

DF (4/10): Onyewu, Bocanegra, Spector, DeMerit

MF (5/10): Bradley, Donovan, Dempsey, Edu, Holden

ST (2/6): Altidore, Davies


That's thirteen so far. Next, the fringe players who are on form. They might get ignored sometimes, but right now, these guys are making themselves very difficult for Bob to overlook. Even if they don't go to South Africa, they deserve to make the 30 man roster.

GK (3/4): Howard, Guzan, Hahnemann

DF (4/10): Onyewu, Bocanegra, Spector, DeMerit

MF (6/10): Bradley, Donovan, Dempsey, Edu, Holden, Bedoya

ST (4/6): Altidore, Davies, Gomez, Buddle


That's seventeen. More than halfway full, and the main core of the squad is basically there. Now is when it starts to get interesting. The next group are the fringe players who make up a big chunk of the provisional squad, but who will also be the first guys trimmed when we go to 23.

GK (3/4): Howard, Guzan, Hahnemann

DF (9/10): Onyewu, Bocanegra, Spector, DeMerit, Cherundolo, Bornstein, Goodson, Marshall, Pearce

MF (10/10): Bradley, Donovan, Dempsey, Edu, Holden, Bedoya, Clark, Torres, Feilhaber, Beasley

ST (5/6): Altidore, Davies, Gomez, Buddle, Casey


Now, the midfield is so deep, there probably won't be any big surprises, and a few good players will inevitably be left out (Kyle Beckerman and Sacha Kljestan, for instance), but I still expect there to be a few spots that could throw up some surprises. The fourth goalkeeping spot, for example, was held pretty comfortably by Troy Perkins, but following DC United's disastrous start, I wouldn't be surprised to see that place usurped by say, Nick Rimando. The final defensive spot is a bit of a mystery, too. Will Bob take another player in the troubled left back position and opt for Edgar Castillo? Or will he try and take some experience in the form of Jimmy Conrad (likely) or Frankie Hejduk (sorry, Jason, but not-so-likely)? And that last forward spot is an interesting proposition, as well. Usually, Brian Ching would be on that like Tiger Woods on a skanky waitress, but with the Big Kahuna (we can still call him that, right?) out injured, it offers an opportunity for someone like the striker-who-must-not-be-named, Robbie Findley, or Jeff Cunningham to seize a golden opportunity.


With those issues in mind, here's my prediction for the thirty-man provisional squad:

GK (4/4): Howard, Guzan, Hahnemann, Rimando

DF (10/10): Onyewu, Bocanegra, Spector, DeMerit, Cherundolo, Bornstein, Goodson, Marshall, Pearce, Conrad

MF (10/10): Bradley, Donovan, Dempsey, Edu, Holden, Bedoya, Clark, Torres, Feilhaber, Beasley

ST (6/6): Altidore, Davies, Gomez, Buddle, Casey, Johnson


Your thoughts, readers?