Bradley picks mostly unchanged roster for US’s next 2 qualifiers

Bradley picks roster for US’s next 2 qualifiers

CHICAGO — U.S. coach Bob Bradley chose a mostly unchanged roster for World Cup qualifiers against El Salvador on Sept. 5 at Sandy, Utah, and at Trinidad and Tobago four days later.

Coming off a 2-1 loss in Mexico City, Bradley included midfielders Robbie Rogers and forward Robbie Finley, both appearing on a qualifying roster for the first time.

The United States will begin practicing Monday in Utah.

Landon Donovan is set to be there after coming down with swine flu ahead of the Mexico game, while Jozy Altidore returns from England, where the teenager scored his first goal for Hull this week in the League Cup.

Star defender Oguchi Onyewu, who failed to get into AC Milan’s season opener last weekend, is suspended for the El Salvador match after getting his second yellow card.

Costa Rica (4-2) leads the final round of qualifying in North and Central America and the Caribbean with 12 points, followed by Honduras (3-1-2), which has 10 and is ahead of the U.S. (3-1-2) on goal difference. Mexico (3-3) is fourth with nine, followed by El Salvador and Trinidad (both 1-3-2) with five each.

The top three teams qualify for next year’s tournament in South Africa, and the No. 4 team plays South America’s fifth-place nation in a playoff.

The roster:

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa, England), Tim Howard (Everton, England)

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes, France), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover, Germany), Jay DeMerit (Watford, England), Clarence Goodson (IK Start, Norway), Chad Marshall (Columbus), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan, Italy), Jonathan Spector (West Ham, England)

Midfielders: Kyle Beckerman (Salt Lake), Michael Bradley (Borussia Moenchengladbach, Germany), Ricardo Clark (Houston), Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus, Denmark), Stuart Holden (Houston), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), Jose Francisco Torres (Pachuca, Mexico)

Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Hull, England), Conor Casey (Colorado), Brian Ching (Houston), Charlie Davies (Sochaux, France), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles), Robbie Findley (Salt Lake)