The next World Cup cycle gets underway in January, when interim head coach Bob Bradley hosts his first training camp and sends out the USA to play Denmark at Home Depot Center.

A replacement could be in place by the spring, yet Bradley has been named the under-23 head coach in any case. Failure to qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games, a large crop of promising younger players and Bradley's success at developing talent in MLS spurred U.S. Soccer to hand him both jobs.

If U.S. Soccer indeed insists on sending its strongest squad to the Gold Cup (June 6-24), because it is the regional championship and entails for the winner a place in the Confederations Cup, it will have to give the experienced European players a rest in July before they report back to their clubs.

Bradley could then use the Copa America (June 27-July 15) to test under-23 players, as several countries have done in the past. However, those with European clubs may not be cleared to compete if the tournament conflicts with preseason training.

FORWARDS
Best must improve

Once Bradley decides where to play Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey, the rest of the attack takes shape. They are the daring, risky, game-breakers whose improvement is essential to the USA's hopes of beating the best teams in the world.

No more Brian McBride. No more rugged, reliable, relentless roustabout who can pressure defenders, win balls in the air, check back and spin into good spots, drag defenders with timely runs, and finish with either foot as well as his head.

There are players cut from the same mold, starting with Brian Ching, who shares some of McBride's attributes: his size, his courage, his predatory instincts in the penalty area, and his bad luck with facial and other injuries. Yet his failure to get on the field during the 2006 World Cup deprived him of opportunities to show what he can do against the toughest foes.

Ching, 28, will get a chance to take McBride's place, and the partnership he formed with Donovan in San Jose during the 2003 and 2004 seasons will aid his cause. He's coachable, likable and dependable, yet may be destined to lurk on the fringe of the USA squad.

At some point, maybe, Eddie Johnson will wake up. The strength, pace, drive and scoring instincts that attracted interest from European teams during his youth days are still there. Incoming Wizards head coach Curt Onalfo says he can revive Johnson's career, which has veered off course since he suffered a foot injury in May 2005.

Since then, Johnson has played 12 games for the U.S. and scored one goal. He had just two goals in 19 games for Kansas City last season and unless he finds a foreign club, he'll bear a lot of the Wizards' scoring load left by the departure of Josh Wolff, whose transfer to 1860 Munich could mean he doesn't play for the USA until late spring.

Wolff, who started his MLS career under Bradley in Chicago, hasn't lost the zip that stretches opponents and gets him in behind defenders. He should see time this summer in the Gold Cup.

The long-term prospects for Wolff, who will be 33 in 2010, aren't as bright as those of Taylor Twellman, who is three years younger. As long as Twellman keeps scoring goals in MLS, he can't be shoved out of the picture. Neither can his Revs teammate, Pat Noonan, whose poise and touch in pressure situations haven't been fully exploited by the national team because of injuries.

Kenny Cooper has played just one year in the first team of FC Dallas, yet that was enough to confirm his quality. He's built (6-foot-3, 200 pounds) for power, and he has good speed and excellent touch. Unlike some big forwards, he can hit the target consistently from distance and like Ching, he's a solid pro in the locker room. At age 23, he's also destined to improve, perhaps exponentially.

Among the longer longshots is another former Fire player, Ante Razov, who will sweat blood for Bradley, who brought him to the MetroStars and then Chivas USA. He'll be 33 in March, but a cameo isn't out of the question. Can Edson Buddle, 25, put aside his problems at Toronto FC and utilize his tools under Bradley? How much of a shot will Bradley give another player he coached in Metroland, Mike Magee, or Fire products Nate Jaqua and Chris Rolfe?

Olympians: There's no natural striker who immediately stands out at the U-23 level (players born, on or after Jan. 1, 2005). Bradley coached Eddie Gaven in New York, and he's been tried at central midfielder, wide midfielder, and second forward in MLS. He should get a long look with the U-23 team, and so could Jacob Peterson, who scored four goals for Colorado in his rookie MLS season while usually playing wide midfield rather than the forward position he dominated at Indiana. Lee Nguyen, who left Indiana after his freshman year, hasn't been able to break into the first team at PSV and could be loaned out. Former U-20 Sammy Ochoa plays sparingly at Mexican club UAG. Charlie Davies, Joseph Lapira and Sal Zizzo (more of a winger) were among the top college attackers in 2006.

MIDFIELDERS
Overloaded on left side

DaMarcus Beasley and Bobby Convey should be mainstays in midfield but since both are left-sided players Bradley faces the same dilemma as did his predecessor, Bruce Arena: how to play both at the same time? More importantly, what are their prospects for progression in the English Premier League?

Convey missed much of the first half of the season because of injury after sparking a potent attack as Reading roared to the League Championship title. Unless he suffers a recurrence, he'll get sufficient opportunity to prove he can handle the rigors of the EPL and thus bid for a starting spot with the USA.

Injuries hampered Beasley in his second season at PSV and another gloomy season is in store at Manchester City, where he is on loan, unless he gets steady playing time.

There's another lefty on the horizon, and that is Justin Mapp, who dazzled much of the time playing in the middle for Chicago. He still has holes in his game, on both sides of the ball, and needs a lot of seasoning. In the offensive half of the field, he's dangerous.

Kerry Zavagnin, Eddie Lewis and Frankie Hejduk turn 33 in 2007. A few 30-ish MLS players ù Chris Klein, Ben Olsen, Pablo Mastroeni ù could stay in the picture for a year or two, but there's plenty of younger guys ready to be tested, such as MLS Rookie of the Year Jonathan Bornstein, 22, whom Bradley coached at Chivas USA.

Ricardo Clark, 23, broke into the national team in 2005. This year, we'll see how good he can be. He's quick, covers ground like a gazelle, has good smarts, likes to get forward occasionally to take a crack at goal, and enjoyed a fine season helping Houston win the MLS title. Brian Carroll showed some promise in the run-up to the World Cup, and despite his MLS troubles Kyle Martino deserves a look.

John O'Brien? Who knows?

Olympians: A fine rookie season for Sacha Kljestan under Bradley at Chivas USA tips him as a likely regular for both the under-23 and national team camps. He grafted toughness and tackling onto the attacking gifts he displayed at Seton Hall and with the under-20s two years ago. Benny Feilhaber, who has jumped from the reserves to the first team at Hamburg in less than a year, has the strength, mobility and touch ideally suited to the modern game. On his third tour of duty with the U-20s, Freddy Adu will get a shot to run the show at Real Salt Lake City. How he does could determine his immediate future with the U-23s and national team. Another strong prospect for the U-23s and eventually regular national team duty is Bradley's son, Michael, who is in his second season at Dutch club Heerenveen.

DEFENDERS
Candidates galore on backline

There are candidates galore to fill the backline, starting with 2006 World Cup veterans Oguchi Onyewu and Carlos Bocanegra. Onyewu, who has been courted by major clubs, may leave Belgian club Standard Liege during the January transfer window. Fulham manager Chris Coleman has used Bocanegra a couple of times at defensive mid this season.

Cory Gibbs, Heath Pearce, Zak Whitbread and Bocanegra are all possibilities for the left side. Whitbread, a member of the U.S. under-20 team at the 2003 world championships, couldn't crack the lineup at Liverpool and has started at Millwall of the League Championship for the last 13 months.

Right back Steve Cherundolo is only 27, so age isn't a problem, but his status could be jeopardized if Hannover is relegated to the German Second Division. He and Galaxy veteran Chris Albright are the same age; their main competition at this point is Jonathan Spector, who is also eligible for the under-23s and is being severely tested at relegation-threatened West Ham. Michael Parkhurst and Bobby Boswell are in the hunt. Olympians: Many former and a few current U.S. under-20s are eligible. Hunter Freeman has played 47 games for Colorado in his first two pro seasons, and Marvell Wynne ended his rookie season with the Red Bulls much more strongly than he started it. Left back Michael Harrington went on trial at German club Kaiserslautern following a stellar career at North Carolina, where he started 84 of his 87 games. He heads a pool of defenders who will come out of college either this year or next. Also in that group are Julian Valentin, who is in the U.S. pool for this summer's FIFA U-20 World Cup, Greg Dalby, and Jay Needham. Another current U-20, Nathan Sturgis, may be a vital cog in 2008.

GOALKEEPERS
Howard in line to take over

The list doesn't end with Tim Howard, whose excellence for Everton has won the praise of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, who loaned him in the first place. Yet Howard, 27, started off brilliantly for United, remember, only to lose his spot via a few costly flubs. Completing the season steadily will earn him a trip back to Old Trafford and cement his place in the U.S. team, where he should be outstanding for a decade.

Kasey Keller has yet to retire from the national team and neither has Marcus Hahnemann. They are both older than 30; yet so are the top MLS keepers ù Matt Reis, Joe Cannon and Kevin Hartman.

Brad Guzan, 24, is a shade too old for the Olympic team. This season, his third as a pro, is an important one, as he played fewer games than Chivas USA teammate Preston Burpo in 2006. Troy Perkins and Matt Pickens were solid.

Olympians: San Diego State's Tally Hall may bypass MLS for Europe, and Maryland's Chris Seitz, both All-Americans, might take that route as well. Former U-20 keeper Quentin Westberg finally made his French First Division debut last fall at Troyes.

(This article originally appeared in the January 2007 issue of Soccer America Magazine.)