Which 23 Americans should be in SA?

With less than three months to go before Bob Bradley must submit the 23-man U.S. World Cup roster, there is still plenty that is unknown about the squad he will take to South Africa.

From the rash of injuries to multiple key players, to the position battles yet to be won, picking a U.S. roster won’t be easy at all, and could be as tough as it has ever been for an American coach.

Just how tough? You try choosing from a deep pool of quality central midfielders, between unimpressive strikers and among fringe wing options that include equal parts promise and doubt.

Bradley still has some time to sort all that out, but I will help do the job for him now. Here are my U.S. World Cup roster picks.

GOALKEEPERS

Tim Howard, Brad Guzan, Marcus Hahnemann

The easiest position to pick, Howard is the starter while the battle for the No. 2 spot is becoming interesting between Guzan and Hahnemann, who has gained ground after capturing the starting job at Wolverhampton.

Who is No. 4? Troy Perkins and Nick Rimando are in the running.

DEFENDERS

Carlos Bocanegra, Oguchi Onyewu, Jay DeMerit, Jonathan Spector, Steve Cherundolo, Jonathan Bornstein, Clarence Goodson, Heath Pearce

Onyewu’s return from knee surgery still isn’t complete, but he should be healthy well before the World Cup and he’s too good to leave off if healthy. Bornstein’s presence might surprise some but I don’t think he’s ready to be written off just yet.

Goodson beats out Chad Marshall for the fourth centerback spot while Pearce makes it as the last defender. The left back job is still for grabs so Pearce could theoretically make a case for it in MLS play.

Who just misses the cut? Chad Marshall was in the center back mix while Frank Simek is probably the next fullback to go.

MIDFIELDERS

Landon Donovan, Michael Bradley, Stuart Holden, Ricardo Clark, Maurice Edu, DaMarcus Beasley, Jose Torres, Benny Feilhaber, Alejandro Bedoya

The dearth of forward options leads me to go with nine midfielders while converted midfielder Clint Dempsey occupies one of the three forward spots. Clark will battle Edu and Feilhaber for the starting job alongside Michael Bradley, while Holden looks to challenge Beasley for a starting spot.

Bringing Clark, Edu, Feilhaber and Torres might seem like overkill, but each brings different elements to the table (and Edu can play center back if needed).

Bedoya is our wildcard, a fast and tricky winger who just might be able to develop into a reserve role.

The real question here is which player will make way for Charlie Davies if he makes it back in time. You could go with Pearce, Bedoya or one of the central midfielders. We’ll leave off Pearce, with Bocanegra, Bornstein and Spector all capable of playing left back.

Who misses out? Freddy Adu, Sacha Kljestan, Robbie Rogers and Kyle Beckerman were all on the fringes. Jermaine Jones is running out of time to get back on the field for Schalke. The fact that he went to Amsterdam to spend time with the team was promising.

FORWARDS

Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore, Brian Ching

Altidore and Dempsey have been destined to start together up top since Davies was sidelined, and that should remain the case unless Davies completes his recovery.

If Davies can make it back and be a solid starter, Dempsey could move back to midfield, but in the meantime, Dempsey’s finishing up top should help the U.S. attack capitalize on recent struggles with finishing.

Ching gives the team a target forward option and he beats out Conor Casey for that role off the bench.

Who misses out? Robbie Findley, Jeff Cunningham and Eddie Johnson had their chances and came up short. Casey also misses out unless Ching is sidelined by injury.

Ives Galarcep is FoxSoccer.com's newest senior writer who will be covering U.S. Soccer and MLS.