CHICAGO – Seattle Sounders FC forward Clint Dempsey and defender DeAndre Yedlin were named to the U.S. National Team 23-man roster for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Additionally, Sounders FC midfielder Brad Evans is one of seven players who have been placed on a standby list. Head Coach Jurgen Klinsmann’s roster will be officially submitted to FIFA on June 2.
"It's an exciting moment when you have narrowed the roster down as a coaching staff, and these 23 players that you've chosen can focus now purely on Brazil," Klinsmann said. "We can go into more specific things about technical approaches, and about the opponents. For the players, it's very important to know that they are now part of it and they can relax and know they are on the list going to Brazil and taking it from there. After almost 10 days of work right now, we thought the point has come to make the decision."
This marks the third World Cup for Dempsey, who participated in 2010 and 2006. The USMNT captain has 103 caps (T-10th) and ranks second all-time with 36 goals.
Yedlin will be making his first World Cup appearance after earning his first two caps earlier this year against Korea and Mexico. The Seattle-native represented the U.S. at the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey.
The U.S. Men’s National Team will play three matches in its Send-Off Series from May 27-June 7 in San Francisco, New York and Jacksonville, Florida. The Send-Off Series kicks off with USA vs. Azerbaijan, powered by Yingli Solar, at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 27, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The USA then hosts Turkey at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 1, at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, before traveling to Jacksonville, Florida, to face Nigeria on June 7 at 6 p.m. ET at EverBank Field. All three Send-Off Series matches will be broadcast live on ESPN2, WatchESPN, UniMas and ESPN Deportes Radio. Fans can also follow the games live on Twitter @ussoccer.
2014 FIFA WORLD CUP - U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION
GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
DEFENDERS (8): DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), John Brooks (Hertha Berlin), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Timmy Chandler (Nürnberg), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Mönchengladbach), DeAndre Yedlin (Seattle Sounders FC)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Mix Diskerud (Rosenborg), Julian Green (Bayern Munich), Jermaine Jones (Besiktas), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
FORWARDS (4): Jozy Altidore (Sunderland), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC), Aron Johannsson (AZ Alkmaar), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)
