The following are the players U.S. national team head coach Steve Sampson called up for the World Cup ’98 qualifying matches against Guatemala Nov. 3 and Trinidad & Tobago Nov. 10:
Goalkeepers — Brad Friedel (Columbus Crew), Kasey Keller (Leicester City, England), *Chris Snikto (Kansas City Wiz).
Defenders — Jeff Agoos (D.C. United), Mike Burns (New England Revolution), Paul Caligiuri (Columbus Crew), Thomas Dooley (Schalke, Germany), Frankie Hejduk (Tampa Bay Mutiny), Alexi Lalas (New England Revolution), Eddie Pope (D.C. United), Gregg Vanney (Los Angeles Galaxy).
Midfielders — John Harkes (D.C. United), Jason Kreis (Dallas Burn), Preki (Kansas City Wiz), Tab Ramos (MetroStars), Claudo Reyna (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany), Mike Sorber (Kansas City Wiz), Martin Vasquez (Tampa Bay Mutiny).
Strikers — Cobi Jones (Los Angeles Galaxy), Roy Lassiter (Tampa Bay Mutiny), Brian McBride (Columbus Crew), Joe-Max Moore (New England Revolution), Ernie Stewart (NAC, Netherlands), David Wagner (Schalke, Germany), Eric Wynalda (San Jose Clash).
* developmental player.
Notable absences: Marcelo Balboa, coming off an injury-riddled season at Colorado; Jovan Kirovski, who has just broke into Borussia Dortmund’s first team; Juergen Sommer, No. 3 keeper remains with QPR in England.
Players who essentially used ’96 MLS performances to break into national team picture: Hejduk, Kreis, Lassiter, McBride, Pope, Preki, Vanney and Vasquez.
Players from ’95 national team pool who, due to injuries or poor form in MLS, are now out of picture: Brian Bliss, John Kerr, Jr., Frank Klopas and Roy Wegerle.
Training sites:
Oct. 24-27 — ARCO Training Center, Chula Vista, Calif. (U.S.-base players only).
Oct. 28-Nov. 2 — George Mason University — team is staying at Hyatt Fair Lakes in Fairfax, Va. (all players).