past and present -- will most certainly be felt.
The USA will open defense of their 2005 crown on June 7 when they take on Guatemala at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. (9 p.m. ET). Twelve MLS stars received the nod from U.S. head coach Bob Bradley, who considers the Gold Cup as his team's true preparation for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.
One of the highlights of the reigning Gold Cup champion's squad is its attack, which is composed exclusively of MLS players. Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Wizards), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution) and Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo) will all try to wreak havoc on opposing defenders.
Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids), Justin Mapp (Chicago Fire) and Ricardo Clark (Houston) could see action in the U.S. midfield; Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Michael Parkhurst (New England) and Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA) are competing for starting roles at defense, and the goalkeeping corps features Chivas USA's Brad Guzan.
In addition, five of the USA's European-based players got their starts in MLS, including Tim Howard, Michael Bradley, DaMarcus Beasley, Carlos Bocanegra and Clint Dempsey.
Central America will also be represented by current and past MLS stars.
FC Dallas' Carlos Ruiz will command the Guatemalan side this Thursday against the United States in one of the first round's most highly anticipated battles.
The Gold Cup will also give the Hoops forward the opportunity to make history by becoming his country's all-time scorer. With 34 in his personal tally, Ruiz trails the legendary Juan Carlos Plata by one goal.
Guatemala will also have other familiar faces, such as Guillermo Ramirez, formerly of the Los Angeles Galaxy, ex-Columbus Crew player Mario Rodríguez and Gustavo Cabrera, who once called Real Salt Lake home.
El Salvador, also in the group with the USA and Guatemala, will have former MLS star Ronald Cerritos at striker. The league's 10th all-time leading scorer, with 71 goals, Cerritos played for Houston Dynamo, Dallas Burn, San Jose Earthquakes/Clash and D.C. United between 1997-2006. He will joined by former D.C. United attacker Eliseo Quintanilla.
Ivan Guerrero of the Chicago Fire will roam the midfield for Honduras, a Group C participant, along with Mexico, Panama and Cuba. Guerrero will be joined by former MLS MVP Amado Guevara, most recently with Chivas USA after also playing with New York.
The Panamanian national team, guided by head coach Alexander Guimaraes, will have attacker Roberto Brown, who has netted three goals for the Colorado Rapids this season.
And although he can no longer play with his beloved Cuba, Maykel Galindo will cover his nation's participation in the Gold Cup with his "Papa Cubano" blog, which appears on Chivas USA's official Spanish-language site.
From the other North American countries, fan favorite Dwayne De Rosario will see action on opening night, as will goalkeeper Pat Onstad. Last year's MLS All Star Game MVP and the man who locked up Dynamo's first MLS Cup title last November will exchange Dynamo's orange for the red of their native Canada.
Several other MLS regulars will share the stage with De Ro and Onstad under the tutelage of head coach Stephen Hart. Goalkeeper Greg Sutton and defenders Adam Braz, Chris Pozniak and Marco Reda all play for expansion squad Toronto FC. L.A. Galaxy mainstays Kevin Harmse and Ante Jazic also earned a spot on the Canadian roster.
Other former MLS players dot the rosters of Costa Rica (Pablo Chinchilla, formerly with the Los Angeles Galaxy); Trinidad & Tobago (Gary Glasgow, ex-Kansas City Wizards, and Keyeno Thomas, ex-Colorado Rapids) and Haiti (Alexandre Boucicaut, former Chicago Fire).
Meanwhile, Mexico arrives with striker Cuauhtemoc Blanco, who will join the Chicago Fire once his Gold Cup participation comes to an end.
Legendary forward and former Dallas Burn star Hugo Sanchez makes his Gold Cup debut as Mexican head coach. Sanchez has pulled out all the stops for this tournament, calling on Mexico's "foreign legion", which includes Barcelona's Rafael Marquez, as well as Pavel Pardo and Ricardo Osorio from Germany's Bundesliga champion Stuttgart.
Costa Rica and Canada will kick off the championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean on Wednesday at the Orange Bowl in Miami (7 p.m. ET). The nightcap will see fellow Group A rivals Guadeloupe and Haiti square off two hours later.
Jaime Uribarri is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
