NEW YORK - Charlie Davies, the forward who hoped he could recover from a car crash in time for the World Cup, fell short of making the 30-man preliminary U.S. roster for the event in South Africa.
While Tuesday's announcement of the players invited to training camp was tough for him, it was a day of unexpected highs for Edson Buddle and Herculez Gomez, a pair of veteran forwards selected.
The same for Alejandro Bedoya, 23, a midfielder who didn't make his international debut until January.
"It's kind of like a dream," Gomez said.
Still, they haven't made the World Cup yet. The U.S. must cut seven players to reach the 23-man limit by June 1.
Davies was badly hurt in an Oct. 13 accident in Virginia, when he broke curfew ahead of the final U.S. World Cup qualifier. Forecast to be out a year, he has made it back to training with his French club Sochaux but has yet to play in any games.
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Teammates were pulling for the 23-year-old, but U.S. coach Bob Bradley said Sochaux would not give Davies medical clearance to report to the U.S. team.
Elsewhere, Ronaldinho and Ronaldo were left out of Brazil's probable World Cup squad, Francesco Totti and Luca Toni weren't on Italy's squad and Jamie Carragher came out of retirement for England.
Brazil coach Dunga later unveiled a 30-man provisional squad that included Ronaldinho, but made it clear the AC Milan star would only be used in case of injuries.
France left off Karim Benzema, who faces allegations in a teen sex scandal.
