United States coach Bruce Arena has included three uncapped players in his squad to take on Scotland at Hampden this weekend.
The squad flew into Glasgow yesterday, and trained at Murray Park last night in preparation for their 20th international match of the year.
Chicago Fire striker Chris Rolfe, defender Heath Pearce – based in Denmark with Nordsjaelland – and Hamburg midfielder Benny Feilhaber are all hoping to win their first caps in the friendly match.
Arena also has plenty of experience in his 20-man group after including Fulham forward Brian McBride and defender Carlos Bocanegra along with Borussia Monchengladbach goalkeeper Kasey Keller, who between them have collected 178 caps.
McBride needs only five more goals to become the leading scorer in the history of the national team after finding the back of the net 29 times in his 90 appearances to date.
Arena is confident he has right blend of youth and experience in his squad.
“Despite the fact we’ve had a rash of injuries and some conflicts with clubs, we feel this game is an excellent test for our veteran players in Europe as well as some new players in the team,” he said.
“We have a solid group and are looking forward to the challenge.”
Arena left out regular starters such as Eddie Pope, Bobby Convey, Eddie Lewis and Chris Albright.
The only other US appearance in Glasgow ended in a 6-0 loss in 1952. Since then they have recorded one victory, one loss and one draw against Scotland.
While Scotland have declined in the last 20 years, the United States have made five World Cup appearances in a row and have been as high as sixth in the world rankings.
USA squad: Tim Howard (Manchester United), Kasey Keller (Borussia Monchengladbach); Gregg Berhalter (Energie Cottbus), Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Jim Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Liege), Heath Pearce (Nordsjaelland), Jonathan Spector (Charlton Athletic); DaMarcus Beasley (PSV Eindhoven), Brian Carroll (DC United), Benny Feilhaber (Hamburg), Eddie Gaven (MetroStars), Ben Olsen (DC United), Santino Quaranta (DC United), Kerry Zavagnin (Kansas City Wizards); Brian Ching (San Jose Earthquakes), Brian McBride (Fulham), Chris Rolfe (Chicago Fire), Josh Wolff (Kansas City Wizards).
