Joy!

10 players who could revive USA

Strange things happen in soccer. After losing three of four and surrendering nine goals, no one would have argued, not even Bob Bradley, that Team USA needed some serious CPR. And on the brink of elimination, this team pulled together and managed an impressive 3-0 win over Egypt. That coupled with Italy's 3-0 loss to Brazil has put the U.S. in the semifinals of the Confederations Cup. Do you believe in miracles?

But wait a second. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. The U.S. must play the 2008 European champions Spain, and barring an even more inconceivable result, the U.S. will be going home after Wednesday.

What this tournament proved is that the U.S. has some quality (i.e. Egypt win), but that Bradley hasn't been successful in developing the quality (i.e. Brazil, Italy losses). The emotion of last weekend's surprise advancement aside, I still think that Bradley should be fired in favor of someone who can assemble a talented team and build depth for next year. But whoever is in charge needs to make use of The Gold Cup to run out a few players who could build that depth and who could end up starting next summer.

Here are ten players who should be called up. None of them can turn the team into world beaters single-handedly. There are no red, white and blue Peles, but everyone on this list should have gotten multiple looks already:

10)*KENNY COOPER (F) - Coop is like Brian Ching, only he can score some with his feet. He's not by any means prolific, but his performance last season for FC Dallas should have earned him a consistent spot among the subs, if not a few starts. Bradley has something against him, and their relationship seemed to completely ice over when Cooper turned down a call up from his country to help his club. Time to thaw out those hard feelings.

9) JERMAINE JONES (D/M) - There's probably not enough time to get him cleared to play for the U.S. before the Gold Cup, but the U.S. should do their due diligence on Jones and get him on the team sooner rather than later. Building a World Cup squad should be about quality and depth, and we need players like Jones to step in if our key defenders should get injured.

8) *SANTINO QUARANTA (M) - News from Goff is that he will be called up for the Gold Cup and I think it's an excellent decision (cough, cough ... agreeing with Bradley ... cough, oh no!). Following Convey and Adu, he was DC's next great protege, but he had a run in with a monkey and has struggled to stay on the pitch. He has tremendous upside, however, and might surprise a few fans.

7) TAYLOR TWELLMAN (F) - Where's he been? Hurt for much of last MLS season, Double-T is still the best answer to the U.S.'s scoring issues. The problem is he hasn't been used enough on the international stage to know if he could be the next Brian McBride or if he's just the next Jason Kreis. Time to find out.

6) BRAD DAVIS (M) - Davis has seven assists to lead MLS so far this season. Now I'm the first to admit that the assist is kind of a meaningless statistic for the most part (especially in MLS where you can get an assist for tapping the ball to a forward who then runs the length of the field beats 11 guys and scores). But Davis always seems to be in the middle of Houston's scoring opportunities and I believe he's earned a second look. Plus, he's got a pretty good free kick, so we could keep Lando from shanking all of them into row ZZ.

5) GABRIEL FERRARI (F) - "I'm American. I'm born American, grew up in the U.S. and that is the country I would like to play for if I get the chance." Unlike Rossi, Ferrari wants to play here. He's already made four appearances for the U20s and has three goals. He scored against the full Haitian national team in his first appearance. But enough of his wikifacts, no one has really gotten a chance to see if this kid has the goods. Serie A club Sampdoria thought enough of him to bring him over (and then loan him to Perugia). Let's find out.

4) DANNY SZETELA (M) - The U.S. has a lot of depth in the midfield, but Bradley has done little to maintain this advantage by playing the same players in every tournament and friendly (i.e. his son). Szetela should be called in and given a start or two. The kid is extremely talented and he's being wasted. Maybe it's a case of "out of sight, out of mind" since he plays in Italy like Ferrari, but he needs to get back on Bradley's radar. I really think he could end up making the 2010 squad, if not starting next summer.

3) *STUART HOLDEN (M) - Holden is another vastly underrated player with potential to play next summer. He has pace, crosses well and plays smart (unlike many of the current left-sided players we have on the team now). To give Bradley some credit (wow, twice in one article), he called him in prior to the Sweden friendly, but Holden injured his hip. He was named to the Gold Cup roster.

2) MARC BURCH (D) - I personally think that Jonathan Bornstein should get the nod at left back, but if he can't go, Burch (not Beasley for chrissakes!) should be his back-up. Burch, a converted forward, is arguably the best left back in MLS (which is why you haven't heard of him), and he's been DC United's best kept secret for two seasons. Great left foot and he delivers deep crosses as well as any American LB I have ever seen. This is not the first time I've campaigned for him.

1) *ROBBIE ROGERS (M) - Rogers was dropped from the squad for this tournament, but he's back on for the Gold Cup. An outside midfielder with pace that can play either left or right well? He'll be on the 2010 team. It's a no brainer. So, that means even Bradley gets it. Right?