Bradley at Gold Cup

The United States, coming off five grueling games in South Africa during the Confederations Cup, will be allowed to add seven players to its roster for the Concacaf Gold Cup.“In light of the consecutive competitions, the

Confederations Cup and the Gold Cup, with the objective of providing the best performance possible for the public, and in recognition that the back-to-back tournaments strain players and their clubs, Concacaf will give permission to any team who also is participating in the Confederations Cup in the same year to enlarge their roster to 30 from the 23 already permitted,” the Concacaf general secretary Chuck Blazer said in a statement.

The game-day roster will still be limited to 18 players, but United States Coach Bob Bradley will have a pool of 30 players to choose from. The coach announced his 23-man roster on June 25, three days before his team was to play Brazil in the Confederations Cup final. Anticipating that his first-choice players may need a rest after an overseas tournament, that some would have to return to their M.L.S. employers and that others could use some quality time with family, Bradley chose a B team for the Gold Cup.

Only four players from the Confederations Cup were named to the Gold Cup roster and seven members of the Gold Cup team have never appeared for the senior national team. A U.S. Soccer spokesman the additional players will be announced later today. The United States will play its first Gold Cup game Saturday, July 4, in Seattle against Grenada.