BRISTOL, Conn. — The phones started ringing at 2 a.m. and players were told to come down to the third floor for a meeting. As Herculez Gomez pressed the elevator button on 17, his mind raced.
Were his dreams about to be fulfilled — or crushed? This is the way the men’s U.S. World Cup team was finalized, in the dead of night in a Hartford hotel.
“It’s been such a crazy and unbelievable journey,” Gomez said.
And the big trip hasn’t even begun.
For Gomez, a former Rapids player, it was good news. He and Edson Buddle went from longshots to the U.S. roster Wednesday, joining veterans Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley and Tim Howard on the 23-man American squad headed to South Africa.
While there was joy and relief for the chosen, there was heartache and anguish for the players not picked.
Donovan consoled Brian Ching when his roommate found out he wasn’t going. Ching was on the 2006 World Cup roster but never got into a match.
“It’s hard to imagine your lifelong dream not coming true,” Donovan said.
The United States will play England in the World Cup opener June 12.
Footnotes.
Australia was the first squad to arrive for the World Cup when its flight touched down in Johannesburg, South Africa.
• Mathieu Valbuena scored in his international debut to help France beat Costa Rica 2-1 in a World Cup warm-up match in Lens, France. The Associated Press
U.S. World Cup roster
x-on 2002 World Cup roster; y-on 2006 World Cup roster
GOALKEEPERS
Brad Guzan (Aston Villa, England), y-Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton, England), y-Tim Howard (Everton, England)
DEFENDERS
Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes, France), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), xy-Steve Cherundolo (Hannover, Germany), Jay DeMerit (Watford, England), Clarence Goodson (IK Start, Norway), y-Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan, Italy), Jonathan Spector (West Ham, England)
MIDFIELDERS
xy-DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Michael Bradley (Borussia Moenchengladbach, Germany), Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany), y-Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England), xy-Landon Donovan (Los Angeles), Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus, Denmark), Stuart Holden (Bolton, England), Jose Torres (Pachuca, Mexico)
FORWARDS
Jozy Altidore (Hull, England), Edson Buddle (Los Angeles), Robbie Findley (Salt Lake), Herculez Gomez (Pachuca, Mexico).
