JOHANNESBURG,  (Reuters) – United States switch  attention from the Confederations Cup, where they finished  runners-up to Brazil on Sunday, to defending the CONCACAF Gold  Cup this weekend. Exhausted yet exhilarated by their exertions in South  Africa, where they fought back in style to earn a place in the  final after losing their first two games, the Americans leave  for home yesterday to seek another trophy.

However, coach Bob Bradley has chosen just four players from  his 23-man Confederations squad to play in the Gold Cup. The  team kickoff against Grenada in Seattle on Saturday.

“It’s been a great experience here, we’ll turn the page  quickly and get to work with the group. The Gold Cup is still  very important to us,” Bradley told Reuters before leaving for a  25-hour flight and a change of 10 time zones.

“We knew it was going to be a challenging summer. We go to  the Gold Cup with a new squad but it’s a great opportunity for  some of the new players.
“It’s different to the Confederations Cup but it’s still the  championship of our confederation. We take it very seriously,  it’s played in the U.S. and we want to do well,” added Bradley.

The Americans, who also face Honduras and Haiti in their  opening-round group, have won the last two Gold Cups in 2005 and  2007 and it was as champions of the CONCACAF region that they  competed in the Confederations Cup.