Today is May 2, 8 days before Coach Bruce Arena names his 23-man roster plus 10 provisionals for Germany, and some 49 days before he displays his starting 11 vs. the Czech Republic in Italy. My intention for this column is to primarily focus attention on the issues around the US team as it prepares for and competes in the World Cup this summer. The heart of soccer is the games of course, but there are all kinds of stories and perspectives around these games that provide not just depth and color, but sometimes actual insight into what's really going on.

Referring back to the top, the biggest issue in the next 8 days is who's going to be on those two lists. I focus equally on both of those lists because as we all know injuries occur during the preparation which causes unexpected call-ups. Knowing the 10 players in line for that anticipated event and their relative qualities will show a little bit more about our depth and/or lack thereof. I don't think there's any question that our best 11 can play with just about anyone's best 11, and even beat just about any of them barring Brazil, whom noone has been able to beat reliably over the history of the tournament.

So maybe it's helpful to see my lists:

Players who can go ahead and update their calendars and passports:

• All three goalkeepers: Kasey Keller, Marcus Hahnemann, and Tim Howard.
• Gregg Berhalter, Carlos Bocanegra, Steve Cherundolo, Cory Gibbs, Eddie Lewis, Oguchi Onyewu, and Eddie Pope.
• Pablo Mastroeni, DaMarcus Beasley, Bobby Convey, Clint Dempsey, and Landon Donovan.
• Eddie Johnson, Brian McBride, Taylor Twellman

Players who can go so long as they don't slip getting out of their bathtubs at home:

• Steve Ralston
• Claudio Reyna
• John O'Brien

That means that my roster really only has one legitimate bubble position on the back line, with the following contenders:

• Chris Albright
• Jimmy Conrad
• Frankie Hejduk
• Greg Vanney

Frankie Hejduk is the odds-on favorite in that group, but he really hasn't done anything to separate himself from Albright, who frankly has a lot more upside at this stage of the game so long as he can demonstrate some reliability in addition to that additional degree of danger on set balls and moving forward into the attack. One thing Frankie has been through the years is reliable within his limitations, and he has occasionally surprised as well (just ask Mexico).

Plus one bubble spot on the front line:

• Brian Ching
• Pat Noonan
• Josh Wolff

The remainder of the bubble if injuries start cropping up:

• Matt Reis, Kevin Hartman, but injuries in this position rarely occur, especially as all 3 locks are just about through their seasons where 1 is riding the bench anyway.
• Chris Klein, Kerry Zavagnin, Ben Olsen, Chris Armas (another "if healthy"). It's really a demonstration of depth that both in the nets, and in the midfield our next couple of players on the list are plenty capable despite not being considered as "locks".