updated 9:45 a.m. ET Feb. 15, 2006

NEW YORK - Bruce Arena has occasionally criticized Landon Donovan, trying to motivate the young soccer star to become a better player.

On Tuesday, the U.S. coach had nothing but praise for Donovan.

“I think he just had an outstanding five or six weeks with us,” Arena said. “He’s rekindled his desire to be a real player, and I think he’s positioning himself to have a great World Cup.”

The United States has played three exhibition games this year, tying Canada 0-0, routing Norway 5-0 and taking a three-goal lead in a 3-2 win over Japan. The Americans play Guatemala on Sunday in Frisco, Texas, the last game before European-based players are mixed in with the group that has been practicing in California.

Arena spoke during a telephone conference call, detailing which players have impressed him thus far as he thinks about his 23-man World Cup roster. Taylor Twellman appears to have gained the most ground, scoring four goals in the last two games. Brian McBride is a virtual lock to be a starting forward, and Eddie Johnson, Josh Wolff and Twellman appear to be the front-runners to join him.

“Taylor has done nothing but to help his cause,” Arena said. “Taylor has been a player who’s had a lot of success at the MLS level, and it’s never translated to the international game. And obviously, we’ve seen as of late that he’s much more comfortable and is becoming adjusted to international soccer and has been successful.

“I would say the same with Clint Dempsey. Clint’s a little bit of a different story because he’s still a young professional, and I thought it was going to take him a little bit of time. He’s finally discovered what he’s about, I think, as a player.”

Johnson, who missed most of last year because of a toe problem, also is regaining the form that made him a breakout player in 2004.

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“Over the past week he’s finally physically and psychologically recovered from his turf toe injury,” Arena said. “That has been an obstacle for Eddie for a good six months or so, and that’s completely past him. ... I think over the next couple of months Eddie should be back in full form and be a player who’s challenging certainly for a spot on the World Cup roster.”

Arena was impressed by central defenders Eddie Pope and Jimmy Conrad, and by Todd Dunivant, who has made just two international starts but has played well at left back. He singled out midfielder Kerry Zavagnin, originally an alternate for the January camp but brought in after Pablo Mastroeni partially tore his hamstring.

“His stock has risen considerably, and given the circumstances in our entire pool, Kerry is going to be in there right until the end when we’re looking to finalize our roster,” Arena said.

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About half of the World Cup roster is likely to come from Europe-based players who have been with their clubs. Most will be available for the March 1 game against Poland at Kaiserslautern, Germany, and some will be at the March 22 game against Germany in Dortmund.

“When healthy, (Kasey) Keller is clearly our No. 1 goalkeeper,” Arena said. “I think (Claudio) Reyna continues to be our leader. And we have a number of other players in Europe that obviously are among our betters players, such as (DaMarcus) Beasley and Eddie Lewis, and Steve Cherundolo and those likes — Brian McBride certainly.”

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