Getty Images/Icon SMI Some good players -- such as Edson Buddle, Jose Torres and Charlie Davies -- have fallen out of the national picture. It's time to give them another look. Some good players -- such as Edson Buddle, Jose Torres and Charlie Davies -- have fallen out of the national picture. It's time to give them another look.

The Gold Cup has come and gone, while the start of World Cup qualifiers is still almost a year away. In the meantime, the U.S. national team has booked three strong opponents to play friendlies, facing off against Mexico (Aug. 10), Costa Rica (Sept. 2) and Belgium (Sept. 10).

As the Gold Cup indicated, the Yanks are still deficient in a few positions, and thin in almost all of them. Which makes it all the harder to understand why many perfectly good players who have fallen by the wayside since the U.S. started whittling its squad down before the 2010 World Cup haven't since been recalled.

Here are 10 players who should be considered for a recall in the upcoming friendlies:

Heath Pearce, left back/center back, Chivas USA

As recently as 2008, Pearce led the U.S. team with 11 appearances -- tied with Michael Bradley -- as the team's first-choice left back. Since failing to graduate from the preliminary to the final roster for the 2010 World Cup, Pearce has disappeared off the national team roster. There's no good explanation for this, other than his growing an ill-advised mustache during the 2010 MLS Cup playoffs. While Pearce has his flaws as a defender, he's at least as good as the oft-used Jonathan Bornstein, and much better going forward on the strength of a good cross. While he now plays most of his club soccer in the center of defense, the shallowness at left back should warrant another look.

Appearances during the 2007-10 World Cup cycle: 28

Edgar Castillo, left back, Club America

The U.S. could use a speedy wing back adept at coming forward. Castillo traded in his Mexico affiliation for the U.S. in September 2009, taking advantage of a rule change allowing him to switch after his 21st birthday, despite having played in three unofficial friendlies for Mexico. But for his trouble, Castillo was rewarded with just 30 minutes in the national team in a friendly against Denmark in November 2009. His club career has flagged since moving from Santos Laguna to Club America in January 2009, but again, the dearth of quality at left back ought to warrant another tryout for more than 30 minutes. Especially given that he's only 24. Castillo probably didn't help his own case by spouting off to MLSsoccer.com that he would have done better than Bornstein as a left back at the 2010 World Cup, however.

Appearances during the 2007-10 World Cup cycle: 1

[+] Enlarge Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images San Jose's Bobby Convey racked up 42 caps at left back for the U.S by age 23. But after injuries and a falling-out with Bob Bradley, he's not figured into the picture.

Bobby Convey, left back/left mid, San Jose Earthquakes

Whatever happened to the left mid who had racked up 42 caps at left back for the U.S. by age 23? Right, he suffered through a series of bad knee injuries and openly criticized head coach Bob Bradley on several occasions, which was at least as detrimental to his playing chances as being injured. Last season, however, Convey proved with the Earthquakes that he's back to form and, on the odd occasion, capable of deciding games all by himself (see: 2010 MLS Cup Eastern Conference semifinals, second leg vs. New York Red Bulls, when he contributed two goals and the game-winning assist). While Convey has had a falling-out with Bradley -- Convey told ESPN.com a year ago that he hadn't spoken to Bradley in three years -- the greater good would be served by a second chance.

Appearances during the 2007-10 World Cup cycle: 4

Marvell Wynne, center back/right back, Colorado Rapids

Hear me out on this one. Wynne was dreadful in his last appearance for the U.S. in a January camp call-up for a friendly against Honduras in January 2010. I mean really awful. But he was a right back then, with a penchant for setting up 15 yards ahead of the rest of the line. Things are different now. No, really! Wynne has been retooled as a central defender by MLS champion Colorado. Improbably, he has taken well to the new position and he could offer the U.S. what it has so little of in central defense: speed. Yes, at 5-foot-9, he's a little on the short side for the middle, but as Bob Bradley himself once said, "So is Fabio Cannavaro."

Appearances during the 2007-10 World Cup cycle: 4

Chad Marshall, center back, Columbus Crew

The 2008 and 2009 MLS Defender of the Year missed some time in 2010 because of concussion-related symptoms. Since then Marshall, who made six starts for the U.S. in 2009, hasn't returned to the fold. His last appearance was in January 2010 against Honduras. This is hard to understand. The Yanks are desperate for dependable central defenders. With Tim Ream too inexperienced to be reliable, the team still leans heavily on 31-year-old captain Carlos Bocanegra, while the other job in the middle has fallen to Clarence Goodson, who, at 29, is hardly a long-term solution. Marshall is just 26 and as strong as Goodson in the air and a better defender over the ground.

Appearances during the 2007-10 World Cup cycle: 7

Jose Torres, center mid, Pachuca

Although he didn't play as much in 2010-11 as in the two previous years, Torres is still a mainstay with Pachuca. That doesn't seem worth much to Bob Bradley anymore. Despite being the American midfielder the most consistently adept at holding up and distributing the ball -- Jermaine Jones is good, but he has a tendency to sleepwalk through every other game -- Torres seems to have fallen off the radar. Why turn your back on the most technically sound midfielder in your player pool? And one who -- at age 23 -- has already played in a World Cup, at that?

Appearances during the 2007-10 World Cup cycle: 11

Brad Davis, left wing/center mid, Houston Dynamo

One of Major League Soccer's most underrated players -- not to mention its best pure striker of the ball not named David Beckham -- Davis has long been an afterthought for the national team, even after playing well in a substitute appearance against Honduras in January 2010 and a start against El Salvador a month later. He demonstrated his precision on long balls and set pieces, and the danger he can pose on the run. With 33 assists since the start of the 2009 MLS season, Davis could offer cover in two thin positions: on the left wing and as an attacking central midfielder.

Appearances during the 2007-10 World Cup cycle: 3

Charlie Davies, striker, DC United

One of the sport's great stories of redemption has yet to write its final chapter: a return to the U.S. national team, with which Davies was breaking out when he was caught in the car crash that cost him 18 months of his career. On the field, Davies hasn't yet recovered fully. And he's been fortunate to score eight league goals so far in MLS. His speed, however, is more or less back to where it was. And given how dreadfully understaffed the U.S. front line is -- for all his promise, the 18-year-old Juan Agudelo isn't exactly qualified to lead the line -- Davies should get a chance to make some international minutes.

Appearances during the 2007-10 World Cup cycle: 17

Edson Buddle, striker, Ingolstadt 04

Yes, Buddle was called up for the friendlies against Argentina and Paraguay in March. But his omission from the Gold Cup roster was mystifying. Somehow, Bradley saw fit to bring the underperforming Jozy Altidore, the mispositioned Chris Wondolowski and the aforementioned Agudelo as forwards. Yet in Buddle, Bradley again turned his back on a player in his prime with World Cup experience. Granted, Buddle has his deficiencies and had a middling season with his club team, but he is at least as good an option as any of the others.

Appearances during the 2007-10 World Cup cycle: 5

Herculez Gomez, striker, Estudiantes Tecos

See Buddle. Word for word. Except that Gomez hasn't been called up since August 2010.

Appearances during the 2007-10 World Cup cycle: 8

Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at leander.espn@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter at @LeanderESPN.