PRETORIA, South Africa -- Three things from the United States training session as we count down to the Americans' Confederations Cup battle against Italy here on Monday (2:25 p.m. ET, ESPN):

* U.S. coach Bob Bradley knows plenty about Jermaine Jones. On Friday, Jones--the 27-year-old starting holding midfielder for the German Bundesliga outfit Schalke 04--announced that he wanted to play for the United States instead of Germany. Jones, 27, holds dual American/German citizenship (his father is a former U.S. serviceman), and he's hoping to take advantage of FIFA's recent decision to loosen restrictions on switching countries.

Jones could potentially be a big addition for the U.S. team. He's had three caps with Germany's senior team, having played in three friendlies in 2008, but he has never played for Germany's senior team in an official FIFA competition.

"Sure, of course, I've seen him play," Bradley said to me about Jones, although the coach didn't want to get into details for now about his impressions of the player. "We'll let it take care of itself," Bradley said. "The [FIFA] rules have changed, which ultimately opened the door for the one-time change, and now the age factor is no longer there."

"In Jermaine's case, the issue is not the three friendlies [with Gemany's senior team]," Bradley added. "In his case, the issue has always been the one [UEFA] qualifier he played with the [German] U-21s"--an official competition by the standards of FIFA. "There was interest from [Jones's] end a couple years back through the agent and the lawyers," Bradley said, "but he was older than 21, so at that point there was nothing that could be done."

Now that's changed, thanks to FIFA's new rule, and the U.S. might be one of the world's biggest beneficiaries--if Jones can get his paperwork sorted out.

* U.S. captain Carlos Bocanegra's status is up in the air for the Italy game. The U.S. centerback injured his right hamstring and had to leave the game not long after scoring the winning goal against Honduras in last Saturday's World Cup qualifier. Bocanegra was the only U.S. player who didn't participate in practice on Friday. Will Bocanegra be ready for Italy? "I don't know," Bradley said Friday. "We'll have to judge the next few days. He has not trained. Given the travel and everything else, we've been very cautious. He's done stuff with the trainers, and then we'll try to pick it up a little bit each day and make an assessment that takes into account not only the game against Italy but the rest of the tournament."

If Bocanegra can't play against Italy, the leading candidate to replace him will be Jay DeMerit.

* Landon Donovan vows that he won't be leaving the Los Angeles Galaxy during the summer transfer window. "I'm not going anywhere this summer, that's for sure," Donovan told me when I asked if he would be using the Confederations Cup as an audition for European clubs. "I'll be with the Galaxy through the end of the year. And then we'll see what happens. The reality is, whether it's in America or elsewhere, I've been playing under my same deal now for five years. I'm ready to be compensated fairly, I'm ready to kind of move to the next level from that standpoint. I still have time at least until the end of the year to think about what all that means. My next move will probably be my last big move, whether it's staying in America and signing a new deal or playing somewhere else. It's a big decision, so I've gotta think about it."

Do you think Donovan will ever go back to Europe? Would DeMerit be the best candidate to replace Bocanegra and play alongside Oguchi Onyewu against an Italian strike force that may include Luca Toni and Giuseppe Rossi? And how much do you think Jermaine Jones could help Team USA? Post your thoughts below, and check back in the coming days for updates and reactions to the games. I'm also on Twitter, now, too.

Grant Wahl's new book, The Beckham Experiment, comes out July 14. You can pre-order it here.