Teal Bunbury Accepts Call Up to U.S. Men’s National Team
Some were surprised, some where not, but Teal Bunbury accepted Bob Bradley’s call to the USMNT today. Surprising to some because Bunbury’s father played for the Canadian National team and Teal had previously told various news outlets including Inside Minnesota Soccer that he would turn down an offer from the U.S. should they call. Teal played for the U-17 and U-20 Canadian National Teams but had never been called up to the Men’s Team.
To others it was no surprise as Bunbury seemed to be changing his mind in more recent interviews.
It was a big decision for me, obviously. It’s my international career and I feel honored that I have been given this privilege to go represent the US.
Teal Bunbury speaking to Shawn Francis of MLSsoccer.com
Bunbury could actually play for a number of countries. Teal was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. His father Alex was born in Plaisance, Guyana and his mother is from the U.S.
Teal lived in Minnesota from age 14 until he attended college at Akron for two years.
Bunbury just finished his first season with the Kansas City Wizards of Major League Soccer. He started slowly but started adapting to the pace of the league and finished the season strong with 26 games and 13 starts under his belt. He scored 5 goals and had 2 assists.
Speaking to Shawn Francis of MLSsoccer.com, Bunbury stated what caused him to make the decision to play for the U.S. over Canada.
“The biggest thing for me is I want to play in a World Cup, bottom line,” said Bunbury. “Every player in the world ultimately wants to play in a World Cup, and the way it’s looking the US has the better chance of making it to the World Cup, to be honest. That’s what really stuck in my mind every time I would contemplate it and that’s ultimately what swayed me.”
Here is the full list of Bob Bradley’s 18-man Roster for South Africa:
GOALKEEPERS (2): Dominic Cervi (Celtic), Brad Guzan (Aston Villa)
DEFENDERS (7): Gale Agbossoumonde (Estoril Praia), Nat Borchers (Real Salt Lake), Jonathan Bornstein (Tigres), Clarence Goodson (Brondby), Eric Lichaj (Aston Villa), Tim Ream (New York Red Bulls), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Alejandro Bedoya (Örebro), Brian Carroll (Columbus Crew), Mikkel Diskerud (Stabaek), Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew), Logan Pause (Chicago Fire), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)
FORWARDS (3): Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls), Teal Bunbury (Kansas City Wizards), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake)
Full US Soccer press release or click read more.
Bradley Names 18-Man Roster to Face South Africa on Nov. 17 in Cape Town in 2010 Nelson Mandela Challenge
U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Bob Bradley has named an 18-man roster that will travel to face South Africa on Nov. 17 in Cape Town. Coverage of the 2010 Nelson Mandela Challenge begins at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and Galavision. Fans can also follow the match live via ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker.
CHICAGO (Nov. 11, 2010) — U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Bob Bradley has named an 18-man roster that will travel to face South Africa on Nov. 17 in Cape Town. Coverage of the 2010 Nelson Mandela Challenge begins at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and Galavision. Fans can also follow the match live via ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker.
“This game is a good opportunity to look at some different players and assess their place in the pool as we continue to build for the next cycle,” said Bradley. “With our immediate focus on the Gold Cup next summer, this game in many ways is just as much the start of 2011 as it is the end of a great year.”
Players out of season begin arriving into Cape Town on Saturday evening, with players with matches to play scheduled to arrive Monday.
The roster includes five players from the 2010 FIFA World Cup, where the U.S. finished in first place in Group C ahead of England, Slovenia and Algeria before going out in the Round of 16. Jonathan Bornstein started in the dramatic 1-0 victory against Algeria and the game against Ghana, while striker Robbie Findley started three of four matches. Clarence Goodson, Brad Guzan and Jonathan Spector round out the World Cup contingent. Spector started all five matches in the USA’s second-place finish at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, and Guzan earned the 3-0 shutout against Egypt that put the U.S. through to the semifinal where they would defeat No. 1-ranked Spain.
The roster is evenly split with players based in MLS and abroad. On the domestic front, the Columbus Crew contributes the most players, sending a trio of midfielders to South Africa. Robbie Rogers was part of the 30-man preliminary roster for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and also reached the final of 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup. The group includes MLS Defender of the Year finalist Nat Borchers and Rookie of the Year nominee Tim Ream.
Juan Agudelo and Gale Agbossoumonde are the first two alumni from U.S. Soccer’s Development Academy to participate in a training camp with the full Men’s National Team. Agudelo – who signed a Homegrown Player contract with New York Red Bulls and appeared in both of their playoff matches this year – made two appearances at the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Nigeria, while Agbossoumonde, originally from Togo, captained the U-20s to the championship at the 2010 Milk Cup in Ireland.
Ream, Mikkel Diskerud and Teal Bunbury will also be getting their first opportunity with the national team. Diskerud made two appearances for the U.S. at the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt, while Bunbury, who holds dual citizenship with the United States and Canada, is entering his first camp for the U.S. at any level. Goalkeeper Dominic Cervi was in camp previously but has yet to make an appearance, meaning a total of six players on the roster will be in search of their first cap.
The teams have met twice in their history, the United States collecting victories in both encounters. The USA will be competing in its second Nelson Mandela Challenge Cup, the first appearance coming three years ago to the day. In the team’s inaugural visit to South Africa, Steve Cherundolo scored the game’s only goal and Jozy Altidore made his full team debut in the 1-0 victory. In their only other meeting, the U.S. beat South Africa 4-0 on June 3, 2000, in Washington, D.C. Cobi Jones tallied twice that day, with Earnie Stewart and Claudio Reyna rounding out the scoring as Kasey Keller earned the shutout.
The Nelson Mandela Challenge, an annual one-off event typically hosted in South Africa, began in 1994 and has seen South Africa face opponents like Brazil, Argentina, Holland, Nigeria and a host of others.
Combined with the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup – in which the United States reached its first final of a major FIFA competition after defeating No.1-ranked and current FIFA World Cup Champion Spain in the semifinal – the U.S. will play its 12th game on South African soil in three years.
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Awesome
Finally Bob decided to go with some up-and-comers…Will be interesting to watch this game as opposed to the last 3 MNT games (Brazil, Poland, Colombia).