Washington  - At the 2009 Confederations Cup, the United States will be anxious to test their progress on the international stage along the way to the 2010 World Cup.

Getting to the world's showpiece event shouldn't be a problem - the US are champions of their region and figure to make their sixth consecutive finals appearance in South Africa - but the ambitious Americans would like nothing more than a promising performance the summer before the big show against heavyweights like Spain, Italy or Brazil.

Having finished third before (in 1992 and 1999), football fans are hoping that the team will go one better and qualify for the final.

The coach responsible for guiding them is respected domestic figure Bob Bradley, who started life in Major League Soccer as assistant to previous US boss Bruce Arena.

Bradley took over from his old mentor after a group stage exit at Germany 2006 and led the team to continental glory over old rivals Mexico at the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup, which qualified them for the Confederations Cup and set high expectations.

However, a winless guest appearance at the Copa America that same summer and high-profile losses to England and Spain earlier this year have the States questioning their place in the world pecking order once again.

But with a core of players gaining confidence abroad, Bradley - a former under-23 coach - has cast a wide net in expanding his pool of players. And he does have an exciting group of youngsters looking to stake their claim in 2009.

Primary among them will be the duo of attacking 19-year-olds, Freddy Adu and Jozy Altidore.

Monaco-based Adu continues to be the wonderkid of US football, while Altidore became the first American to score in Spain's La Liga after his US-record transfer this summer to Villarreal.

Coach's son Michael Bradley (Heerenveen), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Maurice Edu (Rangers) and goalkeeper Brad Guzan (Aston Villa) are all 25 or under and are likely to have their say.

It's a mark of the team's youthful profile that the leaders of the side are Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy) and DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers), both just 26.

Donovan, who recently became the first-ever five-time winner of the US Player of the Year award and is the team's all-time leading scorer with 37 goals from 105 caps, remains the critical creative force.

At the back, a pair of old hands, Carlos Bocanegra, now with Rennes in France, and Everton net-minder Tim Howard, both 29, anchor the defence, which has proven to be the most consistent area of the team for the Red, White and Blue.

"Our defence has improved a lot at making high-quality opponents uncomfortable," said Howard looking ahead to the tests of the next two years.

"We've gotten better at pushing teams into positions they don't want to be in, which is the key to staying competitive at the highest level." (dpa)