THE United States national men’s team will be first out of the blocks in their preparation for the final round of qualifying for the 2010 South Africa World Cup.

The USA will take a head start on their CONCACAF rivals-including Trinidad and Tobago’s Soca Warriors-by beginning their preparations on January 4.

Trinidad and Tobago will kick off two weeks after the Americans, when a still-to-be-named squad go to Argentina for a training camp, after which they travel directly to Central America for the important opening match on February 11 against El Salvador.

The Americans have a bumper year planned, consisting of World Cup qualifying matches; their defence of the CONCACAF Gold Cup and participation in the Confederations Cup where they will play matches against Brazil, World Cup winners Italy and African champions Egypt.

American men’s national team head coach Bob Bradley has named 25 players to the training camp roster that will begin workouts tomorrow at US Soccer’s National Training Center at The Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

Bradley’s group will then play a tough friendly warm-up against Sweden on January 24 at The Home Depot Centre, before facing Mexico at home in their opening CONCACAF World Cup qualifier on February 11.

Bradley said it was important that his team get a good start to qualifying.

’This is the beginning of a big year for the national team, and it is important that we get started off heading in the right direction,’ said Bradley, who got the team to the final round of qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup with a 7-0-1 record through two rounds.

Their lone loss came when going down 2-1 to T&T when the Americans left out some of their top players.

’This is another great opportunity to reinforce the principles of how this team operates both on and off the field, as well as getting players ready for the match against Sweden and the first World Cup qualifier this year against Mexico in February,’ Bradley said.

The annual camp held in January for players in their off-season, is a largely home-based group that includes 20 players who ply their trade in the United States.

The MLS teams are well represented, with 10 of 15 clubs contributing players to the Carson camp.

The roster boasts several year-end award winners, including MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Jon Busch, Defender of the Year Chad Marshall, Comeback Player of the Year Kenny Cooper, and Rookie of the Year Sean Franklin.

The defending MLS Cup champions Columbus Crew contribute five players to the Carson camp, the most of any club.

Brian Ching is the most capped player on the roster with 32 appearances.

The Houston Dynamo forward finished 2008 tied at the top of the US goals-coring charts with Clint Dempsey, each contributing four goals. All of Ching’s goals came in World Cup qualifying action.

Sacha Kljestan had the most appearances in 2008 of any player on the roster, featuring in eight matches for the US including six World Cup qualifiers.

He tallied two assists for the full team and scored two goals at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. His efforts earned him the 2008 US Soccer Young Male Athlete of the Year award.

In total, there are 10 players on the camp roster who made at least one appearance for the full team last year, including six who started in the USA’s 2-0 victory against Guatemala in the final match of the semi-final round of qualifying.

Additionally, there are five members of the 2008 Olympic team.

US ROSTER:

GOALKEEPERS (4): Jon Busch (Chicago Fire), Will Hesmer (Columbus Crew), Troy Perkins (Valerenga IF), Matt Pickens (out of contract)

DEFENDERS (8): Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Danny Califf (FC Midtjylland), Sean Franklin (Los Angeles Galaxy), Cory Gibbs (Colorado Rapids), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Chris Wingert (Real Salt Lake), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)

MIDFIELDERS (9): Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo), Brian Carroll (Columbus Crew), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Jack Jewsbury (Kansas City Wizards), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), John Thorrington (Chicago Fire)

FORWARDS (4): Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Kenny Cooper (FC Dallas), Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF), Chris Rolfe (Chicago Fire)