United States head coach Bob Bradley is expected to announce his preliminary roster for the World Cup camp tomorrow.  Although he has 30 spots at his disposal, the coach has already said he plans to take between 26-28 players to camp, which will be held at Princeton University.

Who’s in and who is out has likely been debated in forums and blogs as much as it has inside the mind of the coach himself.

Injuries continue to open new doors for some players, while others injuries may have claimed some players one shot at the World Cup.

There are always names that surprisingly find their way into camp and a few that are shockingly left out of it.  Explanations, more like attempted justifications, to follow. 

Here are my 27 invitees for the U.S. 2010 World Cup camp:

Goalkeepers (3):Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton), Tim Howard (Everton)

Defenders (9):Carlos Bocanegra (Stade Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Jay DeMerit (Watford), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Clarence Goodsen (IK Start), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham)

Midfielders (11):DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers), Aljendro Bedoya (Orebro), Michael Bradley (Borussia Monchengladbach), Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Stuart Holden (Bolton), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Jose Fransico Torres (Pachuca) 

Forwards (4): Jozy Altidore (Hull City), Edson Buddle (LA Galaxy), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Charlie Davies (Sochaux)

Now to try and answer a few questions:

Why so many midfielders?  The last four years have revealed the American talent pool is not as deep as many of the top footballing countries.  But if there is a bright spot to this crop, it’s found in the number of available midfielders.

Two time World Cup veteran, Beasley is healthy and finally seems to have overcome the debacle that was his Confederations Cup appearance.

Kljestan seems to have always been a favorite of Bradley’s.  Chivas is having a pretty good start to its season, a better start than Real Salt Lake.  Kyle Beckerman probably deserves the invitation, but the chances that either would make the final roster is slim.

It took long enough, but Clark is finally playing at Frankfurt.  While his spot was unquestionably earned during qualifying, any doubt of that is gone now with solid play in the Bundesliga by Clark.

Newcomer, Bedoya, performed well enough in limited action with the national team and has been in good form for Orebro and earns a much-deserved shot at South Africa.

And why so few forwards?  Bob Bradley does have at least one thing going for him.  His two best field players, Donovan and Dempsey, are interchangeable throughout the field.  This allows Bradley to carry extra midfielders.  Should one of the forwards be unable to play, Donovan or Dempsey are able to slide up top.

But then there is the whole Davies be back in time dilemma?  Watching his progression get closer and closer back to 100 percent makes exclusion very, very difficult at this point.

Buddle has been nothing short of fantastic for the Galaxy this year.  He has more work to do to justify the “Buddle to South Africa” talk, but an invite he has certainly earned.  While many are crying for the inclusion of Buddle, there are just as many who believe Herculez Gomez is deserved as well.  While Gomez has been impressive for Puebla F.C., he has had difficulty cracking the starting lineup.  Is there something not seen, for a player to score so frequently but not play regular starters minutes is noteworthy.  As well, Bob Bradley is a huge proprietor of team chemistry, and it’s hard to believe that Gomez would be able to fit in with this squad in such a short time.

There’s one thing that Buddle has that Gomez does not, Donovan in his corner.  In this prediction, it stands for something.

Ching appears to have recovered just in the knick of time, with reports saying he should be in the Dynamo line-up soon enough.  If he suddenly was unable to go, the spot would likely go to Conor Casey, as Bradley desires a holding forward for his squad.

Thought to be the stopgap to the Davies injury, Jeff Cunningham and Robbie Findley did little to prove their worth on the national team, thusly they miss out on this camp.

No fourth goalkeeper?  With Bradley already saying he won’t use all of his 30 spots, one of the spots cut is the fourth goalkeeper.  The spot appeared to be Troy Perkins, but his recent run of poor form likely would have meant a call-up for Nick Rimando.  Salt Lake supporters will be happy to keep their keeper around.

Jimmy Conrad?  You’ve got to be kidding me, right?  Wrong.  Heading into the World Cup, Bradley will need all the veteran leadership he can get.  This invitation may only be insurance for Onyewu, DeMerit and Goodsen.  The Kansas City defence has been average so far this year, and Conrad should not be at fault.  No matter how foolish the red card versus Honduras was, Conrad deserves a camp invite.  A dark horse invite for Frankie Hejduk is not inconceivable.

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World Soccer Reader will release its U.S. men’s national team 23-man squad for South Africa after the 30-man roster is announced and injury situations begin to settle.

Agree with this camp roster?  Who got snubbed?  Who doesn’t deserve the invite?

What’s your 30-man squad?