Arena selects team for Gold Cup play

CHICAGO (AP) — Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley, Eddie Johnson and Kasey Keller headlined the 23-man roster picked Thursday by U.S. coach Bruce Arena for next month's CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Midfielder Chris Armas, who has not played with the national team since last Aug. 18 because of injuries, is on the roster for the tournament, the championship of soccer's North and Central American and Caribbean region.

Also picked were oft-injured midfielder John O'Brien, who has played just one game for the United States since the 2002 World Cup, and defender Tony Sanneh, who also has been sidelined by injuries.

Three players with no international experience were selected: Kansas City defender Jimmy Conrad, San Jose midfielder Brad Davis, New England goalkeeper Matt Reis.

U.S. captain Claudio Reyna, who is taking time off to prepare for his upcoming English Premier League season with Manchester City, is skipping the tournament along with Fulham's Brian McBride and Carlos Bocanegra; Leeds' Eddie Lewis; and Reading's Bobby Convey. Manchester United goalkeeper Tim Howard, rehabilitating a shoulder injury, also is not on the roster.

Defenders Cory Gibbs of the Netherlands' Feyenoord, who is rehabbing a left knee injury, and Gregg Berhalter of Germany's Energie Cottbus also were bypassed.

The Americans, who won the title in 1991 and 2002, are in Group B in the 12-nation tournament, will gather June 26 in Portland, Ore. They open with a pair of games in Seattle, against Cuba on July 7 and Canada on July 9, then play Costa Rica on July 12 at Foxboro, Mass. The final is July 24 at East Rutherford, N.J.

The complete roster:

Goalkeepers: Marcus Hahnemann (Reading, England), Kasey Keller (Borussia Moenchengladbach, Germany), Matt Reis (New England)

Defenders: Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96, Germany), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Liege, Belgium), Eddie Pope (Salt Lake), Tony Sanneh (Chicago), Greg Vanney (Dallas)

Midfielders: Chris Armas (Chicago), DaMarcus Beasley (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), Brad Davis (San Jose), Clint Dempsey (New England), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado), John OBrien (ADO Den Haag, Netherlands), Ben Olsen (D.C.), Steve Ralston (New England)

Forwards: Conor Casey (FSV Mainz, Germany), Eddie Johnson (Dallas), Pat Noonan (New England), Josh Wolff (Kansas City)