Earthquakes’ Chris Wondolowski named to U.S. Copa America side

Chris Wondolowski, the San Jose Earthquakes’ captain, has been chosen by United States manager Jurgen Klinnsman to represent his country at the Copa America this summer.

The Earthquakes’ all time leading goal scorer and captain, Chris Wondolowski, earned yet another national team call up today, and he will represent the red, white, and blue as they participate in the Copa American Centenario this summer, which is being hosted in the United States.

“Wondo” was also named to the United States’ World Cup side in Brazil in 2014, and he received many critical minutes, and it looks as if he will play a critical part in this year’s squad as well.

Wondolowski has 10 international goals for his country, most recently scoring against Guatamela this past July. Wondolowski has not always been too fortunate in international games, however, as he famously missed an absolute sitter against Belgium in a game that the United States eventually lost, knocking them out of the World Cup in 2014.

More from Golden Gate Sports

• Raiders: Rookie stock report following Week 3 performance
• 49ers sign new long snapper amidst a flurry of roster moves
• Oakland Athletics win Game 2 of Wild Card round with late-inning drama
• 49ers: George Kittle and Deebo Samuel cleared to return to practice
• 49ers expected to place DE Dee Ford on injured reserve

The selection of the Danville, California native does not come as a total surprise, as he has consistently been one of the premier strikers in Major League Soccer, and the United States simply does not have many strikers outside of Clint Dempsey.

The 33-year-old forward leads San Jose with seven goals in 11 games so far in the MLS season, a total that ranks him tied for fourth in the MLS. San Jose is 5-3-3 on the year, sitting sixth in the Western Conference standings with 18 points. Wondolowski leads the Earthquakes in goals, scoring seven of the team’s 15 this year. In his MLS career, which spans back to 2005, Wondolowski has 116 goals, including a franchise-record 112 with San Jose.

Wondolowksi was the only Earthquake named to the U.S. team, but that is also not quite a shocker, as the Earthquakes’ top players, aside from Wondolowski, are mostly from South America and Europe.

The full team includes numerous MLS players, which was to be expected, but also a healthy number of players from the top five European leagues, including DeAndre Yedlin (playing at Sunderland in England, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, also an English side), and Christian Pulisic, the 17-year-old Borrusia Dortmund starlet.

There will be two games played at Santa Clara’s Levi’s Stadium, home of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, so if you wish to see some world-class soccer, you can check it out there.

Here is the complete United States roster:

Next: Warriors: Keeping It Simple Is Key

Goalkeepers:

#1 Brad Guzan (Aston Villa)
#12 Tim Howard (Colorado Rapids)
#22 Ethan Horvath (Molde IK)

Defensemen:

#5 Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City)
#3 Steve Birnbaum (D.C. United)
#6 John Brooks (Hetha Berlin)
#20 Geoff Cameron (Stoke City)
#21 Timmy Chandler (Eintracht Frankfurt)
#23 Fabian Johnson (Borussia Moenchengladbach)
#14 Michael Orozco (Club Tijuana)
#2 DeAndre Yedlin (Tottenham Hotspur)

Forwards and Midfielders

#15 Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake)
#11 Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes)
#4 Michael Bradley (Toronto FC)
#8 Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC)
#13 Jermaine Jones (Colorado Rapids)
#16 Perry Kitchen (Heart of Midlothian)
#10 Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers)
#17 Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund)
#18 Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquake)
#7 Bobby Wood (Hamburg SV)
#20 Gyasi Zardes (Los Angeles Galaxy)
#19 Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)