LA Galaxy forwards Edson Buddle and Landon Donovan have been included in Bob Bradley’s 18-man squad that will face five-time World Cup champion Brazil at the New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. on Tuesday, August 10. Buddle and Donovan were each a part of the U.S. team at this summer’s FIFA World Cup in South Africa and have now been included in the squad for the National Team’s first game since that tournament. Both players will be available for the Galaxy on Saturday night at the Rose Bowl when the club takes on Real Madrid, before flying to New York on Sunday morning ahead of the game on Tuesday.
The game between the U.S. and Brazil will be shown live on ESPN2 and Galavision starting at 5 p.m. (PT). This will be the first meeting between the two countries since the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup Final, when the U.S. jumped out to a 2-0 first half lead before falling 3-2, with Landon Donovan scoring one of the goals for the U.S. on that day.
Donovan will go into next week’s game against Brazil as the all-time leader in goals for the U.S. with 45 in 127 appearances for his country. Three of those goals came this summer in South Africa, with the Galaxy captain scoring against Slovenia, Algeria and Ghana. Donovan, who is also the National Team’s all-time leader with 45 career assists, leads MLS with 11 assists on the season while adding five goals in 13 games. On Sunday against Chicago, Donovan became the sixth player in MLS history to reach 100 career regular season goals by converting a first half penalty kick. Of Donovan’s 100 goals, 69 have come as a member of the Galaxy, leaving him one goal shy of Cobi Jones’ club record of 70 regular season goals.
Buddle has made five appearances for the U.S., including two at the World Cup in South Africa. The 29-year-old has two goals in those five games, with both tallies coming in a 3-1 friendly win over Australia on June 5 in Roodepoort, South Africa. The leading scorer in MLS this season with 12 goals in 14 games, Buddle had been capped by the U.S. just once prior to being included in the initial preliminary World Cup roster which was announced in mid-May.
Buddle and Donovan are expected to be in action for the Galaxy tonight when they take on the Puerto Rico Islanders in the second leg of their CONCACAF Champions League Preliminary Round series. They will then be back in Southern California this weekend for the Galaxy’s friendly on Saturday night at the Rose Bowl against Real Madrid. That game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. (PT) and tickets are available now. For more information about this game or to purchase tickets, please contact the Galaxy by calling 1-877-3GALAXY (342-5299) or by visiting www.lagalaxy.com/realmadridtickets.
GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton)
DEFENDERS (6): Carlos Bocanegra (Saint-Étienne), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Alejandro Bedoya (Örebro), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Jermaine Jones (Schalke), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht)
FORWARDS (3): Edson Buddle (Los Angeles Galaxy), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Herculez Gomez (Pachuca)
