The United States 23-man World Cup soccer squad has been named by USA head coach Bruce Arena with some surprise inclusions.

Unsurprisingly, teenage sensation Freddy Adu has not been named in the squad, despite the massive amount of speculation regarding the possibility of the talented DC United star’s inclusion in the squad.

The 16-year-old striker, who is tipped to be a major star in the making, was born in Ghana but grew up in the United States and currently represents the U.S at Under-17 level.

Ghana announced in December that they were hoping to convince Adu to represent the Black Stars at next summer’s World Cup Finals instead of his adopted country, the USA.

Ironically, in the World Cup, the two teams have been paired together in Group E alongside Italy and the Czech Republic.

Adu has spoken about his desire to play in the World Cup and last year he expressed his frustration at his lack of first-team play for DC United and his failure to make progress at International level.

Since being unveiled to the world’s media at the age of 14, the pacey striker has been touted as the U.S’ first ever footballing superstar, with the US Soccer Federation hoping that he can help to increase the standing of football in the USA.

Arena invited Adu to a 30-man training camp in January of this year, forcing the teenager into making a quick decision as to who he wanted to represent in the future.

But rather than choosing to feature in a guaranteed first-team position for Ghana’s Black Stars In Germany, Adu chose to try and stake his claim in the USA squad for this summers Finals.

But, after not being named in Arena’s final roster, and despite his youth and lack of international experience, Adu may be regretting his decision after his exclusion.

While the majority of Arena’s squad choices were as predicted, midfielder Ben Olsen, defender Jimmy Conrad and forward Brian Ching were mild surprises.

Reading FC has had two call-up's to Arena's roster. The English Championship champions have both Bobby Convey and goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann receiving call-up's, with Brian McBride and Carlos Bocanegra from Fulham FC and captain Claudio Reyna from Manchester City being included as only part of the England-based contingent.

“I guess in your eyes those were the last three players to make the roster,” Arena said. “I’m not sure I agree with that but obviously these are three people there might be some questions on where they stand.

“Ben Olsen played his way on the roster and can cover a number of midfield positions. Conrad played the Germany game (a friendly match in March) with a double hernia, which showed the kind of player he is. Ching is in decent form right now and we’ve seen things from him I think that translate pretty well to the requirements of a forward in the World Cup.”

The 23-man-squad has a wealth of experience, with a dozen of the squad all members of the team that showed the US’s determination to make a stake as a world-class team by advancing to the 2002 quarterfinals.

This will be the fourth World Cup for US No.1 goalkeeper Kasey Keller and their captain, Manchester City midfielder Claudio Reyna, while defender Frankie Hejduk and Fulham striker Brian McBride will play in their third.

“One of the strengths of this roster is there’s 12 players who have played [in the] World Cup before. That has to mean something,” said Arena.

“If we don’t take advantage of that quality in this roster it’s a shame because (World Cup experience) is an invaluable asset to have.”

The squad is almost evenly split between players competing for European clubs (12) and those playing domestically in Major League Soccer (11).

USA Squad for the World Cup Finals Germany 2006:

Goalkeepers: Marcus Hahnemann (Reading FC), Tim Howard (Manchester United), Kasey Keller (Borussia Mönchengladbach)

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Cory Gibbs (ADO den Haag), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Eddie Lewis (Leeds United), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Eddie Pope (Real Salt Lake)

Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley (PSV Eindhoven), Bobby Convey (Reading FC), Clint Dempsey (New England Revolution), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids), John O’Brien (Chivas USA), Ben Olsen (D.C. United), Claudio Reyna (Manchester City)

Strikers: Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Wizards), Brian McBride (Fulham FC), Josh Wolff (Kansas City Wizards)