Much Adu about nothing: Freddy's last chance comes in the Spain friendly and Gold Cup in June

U.S. men's national team head coach Bob Bradley announced his 23-man roster for the Spain friendly and the Gold Cup today.

The one real surprise or should I say blast from the past was Freddy Adu. I seem to vaguely remember ranting and raving last summer about how Freddy deserved a shot in the U.S. camp so I'm not going to repeat myself but simply say that I like it Bob.

Yes, Adu is basically a cautionary tale on wasting young talent in a country that didn't know what to do with him but let's remember he's still only 21 (he turns 22 on June 2) so he's not quite fully washed up yet.

It is the first time in almost two years he's been included in coach Bob Bradley's plans. Adu has been playing at Rizespor in Turkey's second division since January.

"Freddy is a player that, in the past, has shown us soccer qualities that we think help our team,'' Bradley said. "It hasn't always added up enough yet with the full national team, but it seems like a good opportunity to get him back in with us when we have a good month together, and challenge him and hope that he has continued to grow and mature.''

The Americans will begin reporting Thursday to training camp in Cary, N.C. They have a June 4 exhibition in Foxborough, Mass., against World Cup champion Spain, followed by the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean.

The Americans open group play June 7 in Detroit against Canada. They play Panama on June 11 in Tampa, Fla., and close the first round against Guadeloupe on June 14 at Kansas City, Kan.

The rest of the roster is mostly predictable with all the big names from European clubs (Howard, Dempsey, Bradley) all coming back to the States for what is one of their most anticipated friendlies ever (and I'm not just saying that solely because it's in my backyard).

The Gold Cup should also serve as a welcome diversion as it finally turns to summer (crosses fingers), the NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Finals wind down and there's nothing but baseball to watch for months on end.

If all goes well, the U.S. should carry over the momentum it built last summer, roll over the very beatable teams and eventually meet Mexico in the Gold Cup Final. Sounds good right?

Here's the entire roster with their position and club teams:

Goalkeepers: Tim Howard (Everton, England), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton, England), Nick Rimando (Salt Lake)

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Saint-Etienne, France), Jonathan Bornstein (Tigres, Mexico), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover, Germany), Clarence Goodson (Brondby, Denmark), Eric Lichaj (Leeds, England), Oguchi Onyewu (Twente, Netherlands), Tim Ream (New York), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United, England)

Midfielders: Freddy Adu (Rizespor, Turkey), Michael Bradley (Aston Villa, England), Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles), Maurice Edu (Rangers, Scotland), Benny Feilhaber (New England), Jermaine Jones (Blackburn, England), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht, Belgium), Robbie Rogers (Columbus)

Forwards: Juan Agudelo (New York), Jozy Altidore (Bursaspor, Turkey), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose)

Apologies to all the MLS fans out there but I have to confess that I've never heard of Rimando, Ream or Wondolowski. With any luck, that will soon change as they'll all do something over these few games to make me take notice and not simply label them MLS stars/wannabe national team players.