

Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan has an eye on a 1-0 victory over Chelsea. (By Rui Vieira — Associated Press)

The latest: With MLS in full swing, all but one of Juergen Klinsmann‘s World Cup roster candidates are in league play. Next on his agenda is selecting the group — heavily, if not entirely, from MLS and the Mexican league — for the April 2 friendly against Mexico at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. It’s the final match before Klinsmann must submit a 30-man preliminary World Cup squad by FIFA’s May 12 deadline and opens training camp with an unspecified number of players two days later in California.

Changes: Maurice Edu (playing full-time in MLS) overtakes Daniel Williams (injured in England), while Brad Davis jumps over Brek Shea, who returned to Stoke from his Burnley loan early because of an incident with a fan and probably won’t play again until another loan is arranged in April. Steve Cherundolo, who has made two Bundesliga appearances this season, falls off the charts. World Cup veteran Benny Feilhaber joins the top 40. With a goal in his first league match, Chris Wondolowski moves ahead of Terrence Boyd.

Eye on: Five World Cup candidates in the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal between the Galaxy and Tijuana on Tuesday in Mexico. (Los Angeles won the first leg, 1-0.)

Several candidates are able to fill various roles and, while listed here in one spot, they could end up elsewhere on the field at the World Cup. On that note, our latest 23 on course for Brazil (and how they fared over the weekend), plus the 17 seeking to unseat them:

GOALKEEPERS

√Tim Howard (Everton): 90 in 2-1 victory over Cardiff City. Next: at Swansea City on Saturday.

√Brad Guzan (Aston Villa): 90 in 1-0 victory over Chelsea. Next: Stoke City on Sunday.

√Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake): 90 in 3-3 draw at San Jose. Next: Los Angeles on Saturday.

DEFENDERS

Center back

√Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City): 90 in 1-1 draw with FC Dallas. Next: at Cruz Azul in CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday, San Jose on Saturday.

√Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles Galaxy): No matches scheduled. Next: at Tijuana in CONCACAF Champions League on Tuesday, at Real Salt Lake on Saturday.

√Clarence Goodson (San Jose Earthquakes): not in the 18 (calf injury) for 3-3 draw with Real Salt Lake. Next: at Toluca in CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday, at Kansas City on Saturday.

— Contenders —

Michael Orozco (Puebla): 90 in 1-0 loss to Tigres. Next: at Tijuana on Friday.

Tim Ream (Bolton): 90 in 2-0 loss to Brighton. Next: at Yeovil Town on Saturday.

Oguchi Onyewu (Sheffield Wednesday): 90 in 4-1 victory over Birmingham City. Next: QPR on Tuesday, at Doncaster on Saturday.

John Brooks (Hertha Berlin): in the 18, did not play in 3-0 loss to Hannover. Next: at Moenchengladbach on Saturday.

Right back

√Geoff Cameron (Stoke City): 90 in 3-1 victory over West Ham. Next: at Aston Villa on Sunday.

√Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders): first 29 (calf injury) in 2-1 loss to Toronto. Next: at Montreal on Saturday.

√Michael Parkhurst (Columbus Crew): No matches scheduled. Next: Philadelphia on Saturday.

— Contenders —

Jonathan Spector (Birmingham City): 90 in 4-1 loss at Sheffield Wednesday. Next: Reading on Saturday.

Left back

√Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim): 87 (assist) in 4-2 loss to Mainz. Next: at Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday.

√DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla): 90 in 1-0 loss to Tigres. Next: at Tijuana on Friday.

— Contenders —

Edgar Castillo (Tijuana): 90 in 2-1 loss at Cruz Azul. Next: Los Angeles in CONCACAF Champions League on Tuesday, Puebla on Friday.

MIDFIELDERS

Defensive

√Michael Bradley (Toronto FC): 90 in 2-1 victory at Seattle. Next: D.C. United on Saturday.

√Jermaine Jones (Besiktas): in the 18, did not play in 2-2 draw at Rizespor. Next: Akhisar Belediyespor on Saturday.

√Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake): 90 (goal in 11th) in 3-3 draw at San Jose. Next: Los Angeles on Saturday.

— Contenders —

↑Maurice Edu (Philadelphia Union): 90 in 1-0 victory over New England. Next: at Columbus on Saturday.

↓Daniel Williams (Reading): not in the 18 (knee injury) for 0-0 draw with Derby County. Next: at Birmingham City on Saturday.

Right side

√Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City): not in the 18 (rested) for 1-1 draw with Dallas. Next: at Cruz Azul in CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday, San Jose on Saturday.

√Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes): in the 18, did not play in 0-0 draw at Lille. Next: Montpellier on Saturday.

— Contenders —

Joe Corona (Tijuana): not in the 18 for 2-1 loss at Cruz Azul. Next: Los Angeles in CONCACAF Champions League on Tuesday, Puebla on Friday.

Left side

√Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy): no matches scheduled. Next: at Tijuana in CONCACAF Champions League on Tuesday, at Real Salt Lake on Saturday.

√Eddie Johnson (D.C. United): no matches scheduled. Next: at Toronto on Saturday.

— Contenders —

↑Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo): 86 in 1-0 victory over Montreal. Next: at Vancouver on March 29.

↓Brek Shea (Stoke City): not in the 18 for 3-1 victory over West Ham. Next: at Aston Villa on Sunday.

Jose Torres (Tigres): 90 in 1-0 victory at Puebla. Next: Atlante in Copa MX on Tuesday, Queretaro on Saturday.

Central

√Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders): 90 (goal in 68th) in 2-1 loss to Toronto. Next: at Montreal on Saturday.

√Mikkel Diskerud (Rosenborg): Norway preseason. Next: Viking on March 29.

— Contenders —

Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht): 90 in 4-0 victory over Oostende. Next: playoff schedule to be announced.

↑Benny Feilhaber (Sporting Kansas City): 90 (assist) in 1-1 draw with Dallas. Next: at Cruz Azul in CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday, San Jose on Saturday.

FORWARDS

√Jozy Altidore (Sunderland): last 45 in 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace. Next: at Norwich City on Saturday.

√Aron Johannsson (AZ Alkmaar): 60 in 2-1 loss at Twente. Next: at Anzhi in UEFA Europa League on Thursday, Zwolle on Sunday.

√Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes): 90 (goal in 6th) in 3-3 draw with Real Salt Lake. Next: at Toluca in CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday, at Kansas City on Saturday.

— Contenders —

↓Terrence Boyd (Rapid Vienna): 90 in 1-0 victory over Ried. Next: Wolfsburger on Saturday.

Herculez Gomez (Tijuana): 64 in 2-1 loss at Cruz Azul. Next: Los Angeles in CONCACAF Champions League on Tuesday, Puebla on Friday.

Juan Agudelo (Utrecht, on loan from Stoke City): 90 in 2-2 draw at Nijmegen. Next: at NAC Breda on March 28.