Clint Dempsey and Eddie Johnson have been recalled to the USA squad for the friendly against fellow World Cup qualifiers Slovakia.

Coach Bob Bradley has named a 22-man party for the United States' first meeting with Slovakia, including Dempsey, who missed his country's final two qualifiers with a hamstring problem, and Johnson, who is in line for his first cap since June 2008.

It is a much changed squad from the one that sealed qualification for the finals in South Africa next year with a 3-2 victory in Honduras and 2-2 draw at home to Costa Rica which put them top of the CONCACAF qualifying group.

AC Milan defender Oguchi Onyewu was injured late in the game against Costa Rica and has been ruled out for six months following knee surgery while Sochaux striker Charlie Davies missed that game after suffering career-threatening injuries in a car accident on the eve of the match.

Also missing are Houston Dynamo trio Stuart Holden, Ricardo Clark and Brian Ching as well as the USA's all-time leading goalscorer Landon Donovan of the Los Angeles Galaxy. The Galaxy host Dynamo on Friday night in the Major League Soccer Western Conference final.

Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard has been rested, with Wolves' Marcus Hahnemann replacing him alongside Aston Villa's Brad Guzan, while Valerenga's Troy Perkins has been drafted in as a third keeper.

West Ham defender Jonathon Spector and Hull City striker Jozy Altidore are also in the squad,

"These matches present a terrific opportunity to continue building on the nucleus of our team, and at the same time evaluate more of the player pool against very good opponents," Bradley said.

"We are very pleased with what we have accomplished in a long and challenging year, and we move forward with the goal of getting ourselves ready to be a competitive team in the World Cup."

Slovakia qualified for their first World Cup by winning Group Three.

The USA finish the year with a friendly against Denmark in Aarhus the following Wednesday.

USA squad:

Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton), Troy Perkins (Valerenga); Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham); Michael Bradley (Borussia Monchengladbach), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Dax McCarty (FC Dallas), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew); Jozy Altidore (Hull City), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Jeff Cunningham (FC Dallas), Eddie Johnson (Fulham).