The United States men’s national team manager announced his preliminary World Cup roster on Monday and several players were notably left off the team.
That includes Tim Ream of the Bolton Wanderers, Brek Shea of Stoke City, Sacha Kljestan of Anderlecht (Belgium), and Juan Agudelo of FC Utrecht (on loan from Stoke City).
Nate Scott of USA Today labeled the exclusions of these players as “shocking.”
Another player left off the roster is Eddie Johnson, the D.C. United striker who has many fans but also has many detractors.
“For every Eddie Johnson fan who is convinced he can bring a dynamic presence to Brazil, there’s a detractor who questions his ability to create goal-scoring opportunities for himself,” Scott said.
“This offseason saw Johnson move to D.C. United and become the attacking focal point of his club team, and his inability to score a lot of goals this season probably doomed his chances to go to Brazil.”
On the other hand, there are some notable inclusions on the team.
That includes 18-year-old Julian Green (Bayern Munich) and Timmy Chandler (FC Nürnberg).
The U.S. men’s team will play three friendlies before the World Cup play starts against Ghana on June 16--taking on Azerbaijan on May 27, Turkey on June 1, and Nigeria on June 7.
See the full preliminary roster below.
GK: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
DEF: DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), John Brooks (Hertha Berlin), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Timmy Chandler (Nürnberg), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders FC), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Clarence Goodson (San Jose Earthquakes), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim), Michael Parkhurst (Columbus Crew), DeAndre Yedlin (Seattle Sounders FC)
MID: Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Mix Diskerud (Rosenborg), Maurice Edu (Philadelphia Union), Julian Green (Bayern Munich), Jermaine Jones (Besiktas), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
FOR: Jozy Altidore (Sunderland), Terrence Boyd (Rapid Vienna), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC), Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Aron Johannsson (AZ Alkmaar), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)
