U.S. Announces 30-Man Roster

(Edson Buddle should be flying high after today's announcement)

This afternoon, the preliminary 30-man rosters for each World Cup team were released a month before the tournament is set to begin. Each nation will have until June 1st to narrow it down to a 23-man squad for South Africa.

After seeing the roster for the United States, three things stick out immediately.

First, Charlie Davies' bid to make it back to the national team after life-threatening injuries has fallen short. Davies was kept off the list after not being able to return to club soccer in France. This will be incredibly disappointing for the striker, but his recovery has not been in vain. He will surely be able to travel with the team and provide moral support this summer.

Another player dealing with injuries, defender Oguchi Onyewu, was kept on the 30-man roster even though Onyewu hasn't featured for club or country since October. "Gooch" is still trying to return to full fitness before the first game vs. England. When healthy, the rock-built defender is an imposing presence in the American backline.

But the best story coming from this announcement has to be the inclusion of Edson Buddle. Buddle, a striker for the Los Angeles Galaxy, is leading Major League Soccer with nine goals-scored and has been in scintillating form. His only experience with the U.S. national team was seven years ago in an exhibition. Could he supply the firepower needed to replace Davies? U.S. manager Bob Bradley apparently thinks he could.

Here's the entire 30-man preliminary roster:

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa, England), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton, England), Tim Howard (Everton, England).

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes, France), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover, Germany), Jay DeMerit (Watford, England), Clarence Goodson (IK Start, Norway), Chad Marshall (Columbus), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan, Italy), Heath Pearce (Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham, England).

Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Alejandro Bedoya (Orebro, Sweden), Michael Bradley (Borussia Moenchengladbach, Germany), Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany), Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles), Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus, Denmark), Stuart Holden (Bolton, England), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Robbie Rogers (Columbus), Jose Torres (Pachuca, Mexico).

Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Hull, England), Edson Buddle (Los Angeles), Brian Ching (Houston), Robbie Findley (Salt Lake), Herculez Gomez (Puebla, Mexico), Eddie Johnson (Aris, Greece).