Soccer: USA Team: Roster set up for the USA Team at World Cup

Flexible players featured on US roster for South Africa. When looking at Bob Bradley's final 23-man roster, it's important to keep two buzz words in mind: "versatility," and "cover."

ESPN: Bob Bradley unveils his 23-man World Cup roster

ESPN features article by veteran Sports Reporters:  Luke Cyphers and Doug McIntyre

Edson Buddle and Herculez Gomez have made the U.S. World Cup roster, coming from obscurity a few months ago to earn trips to South Africa.

U.S. coach Bob Bradley cut seven players from his preliminary roster on Wednesday to reach the 23-man FIFA limit.

Let go were defenders Chad Marshall and Heath Pearce; midfielders Alejandro Bedoya, Sacha Kljestan and Robbie Rogers; and forwards Brian Ching and Eddie Johnson.

Midfielders Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley, and defender Steve Cherundolo earned their third World Cup trips. Beasley's selection capped a comeback from nine months of national team exile that ended in March.

Both Buddle and Gomez are forwards, and Bradley said they "both have been in great form, scored a lot of goals this year."

Bradley gathered with his coaching staff on Tuesday to make the final decisions following a 4-2 exhibition loss to the Czech Republic, a match used to evaluate players on the bubble rather than to showcase starters for his team's June 12 World Cup opener against England.

The 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), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan, Italy), Jonathan Spector (West Ham, England).

Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), 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), Jose Torres (Pachuca, Mexico).

Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Hull, England), Edson Buddle (Los Angeles), Robbie Findley (Salt Lake), Herculez Gomez (Puebla, Mexico).

Information from Associated Press was used in this report.