STARS AND STRIPES

The United States of America have named their preliminary squad for the World Cup and have chosen to leave out car crash victim Charlie Davies. Davies was involved in a car crash that left one dead, and Davies himself with serious injuries, however the Sochaux striker had worked extremely hard to attempt to overcome those injuries and make the plane to South Africa, but USA manager Bob Bradley decided the tournament is too soon for the 23 year old front man, having failed to get full medical clearance from his club.

The USA, who are competing in their ninth Fifa World Cup, will be participating in Group C alongside England, Algeria and Slovenia and many expect them to be a thorn in Fabio Capello's side when the two nation lock horns on the 12th of June in Rustenburg. Many of the US star players will be familiar to English fans, with nine members of the preliminary squad applying their trade in British football. Players such as Tim Howard, Clint Dempsey and DeMarcus Beasley provide top level experience having all played in European competitions this season.

However some players will be unknown to English fans but nevertheless have top level experience. Giant centre back Oguchi Onyewu currently plays for Italian side A.C Milan and was almost unplayable during the Confederations Cup, a tournament where the USA made it all the way to the final and were only beaten by a fantastic Brazil comeback.

ONE TO WATCH

The key player for the USA will be LA Galaxy star Landon Donovan, a player widely regarded as the best in the MLS, and he too spent a successful spell in England with Everton. He is the USA's most capped player with 121 appearances to his name, netting 42 goals in the process. Manager Bob Bradley will be hoping Donovan can continue his good understanding with former Hull man Jozy Altidore, who incidentally was the USA's top scorer during qualifying with 6 goals. Donovan looked highly impressive during his loan spell at Everton, scoring two goals and being named the Club's Player of the Month for his performances in January.

Donovan, capable of playing on the right hand side or as a striker, possesses great pace and loves to run directly at defences, attributes that are essential to the counter attacking style that the Americans like to use. There is no doubting that if Donovan is firing on all cylinders then there is every chance that the Americans can cause an upset or two.

USA'S 30 MAN PRELIMINARY SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolves)

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Jay DeMerit (Watford), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham)

Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers), Alejandro Bedoya (Orebro), Michael Bradley (Borussia Monchengladbach), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Stuart Holden (Bolton), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), Jose Torres (Pachuca)

Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Edson Buddle (Los Angeles Galaxy), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Herculez Gomez (Puebla), Eddie Johnson (Aris Thessaloniki)

Paul Seed