ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT how seriously the United States national team is taking next month’s Gold Cup were quickly put to rest today when Jurgen Klinsmann announced his roster.

There have been times in the last decade when the U.S. used CONCACAF’s biennial championship to experiment with younger, less experienced players. But that won’t be the case this year as 17 of the players named to the 23-man roster were members of last summer’s U.S. World Cup team.

Here's the complete team.

GOALKEEPERS: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa/2007), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake/2011, 2013), William Yarbrough (Club Leon)

DEFENDERS: Ventura Alvarado (Club America), John Brooks (Hertha Berlin), Timmy Chandler (Eintracht Frankfurt), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders FC/2009), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy/2013), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Tim Ream (Bolton Wanderers/2011)

MIDFIELDERS: Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake/2009, 2013), Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes/2011, 2013), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC/2007, 2011), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo/2005), Mix Diskerud (New York City FC/2013), Alfredo Morales (Ingolstadt), DeAndre Yedlin (Tottenham Hotspur), Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)

FORWARDS: Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC/2011), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC/2005, 2007, 2011), Aron Johannsson (AZ Alkmaar), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes/2011, 2013)

The Americans are the reigning Gold Cup champions and a successful defense of the title they won two years ago will get them an automatic spot in the 2017 Confederations’ Cup. Klinsmann has said that securing a spot in that showcase is a high priority. 

If the Yanks fail to win the 2015 Gold Cup they will face the winner in a two-game playoff this fall to determine who will represent CONCACAF in the Confederations Cup.

“Our approach for putting together the roster for this summer’s Gold Cup, which is very, very important to us, is obviously to do everything possible to win this competition," Klinsmann said via press release. "Winning it would qualify us for the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia, so putting the pieces together is very crucial.

"That’s why we came out with a roster full of quality, but also a lot of experience—players that are used to playing in the CONCACAF region and also younger players that came through the ranks over the last year that made a stamp on the senior national team program.”

The U.S. roster is highlighted by the return of forwards Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore. The duo has combined for 67 international goals but both missed the bulk of U.S. games played this year through injury, suspension, and in Dempsey’s case, the birth of his fourth child.

This pair will be joined up top by AZ Alkmaar forward Aron Johannsson and San Jose’s Chris Wondolowski, whose eight MLS goals is tops among American players so far this season.

The midfield will be anchored by Toronto FC’s Michael Bradley, who has been the best U.S. player in almost every game this year. Veterans Kyle Beckerman, Alejandro Bedoya, and Mix Diskerud will provide a veteran presence in midfield around Bradley as Klinsmann continues to emphasize possession-based midfielders over speedier flank players.

The pace on this roster will come from the fullback position, led by Borussia Mochengladbach’s versatile Fabian Johnson and fellow German-American Timothy Chandler. Central defenders Omar Gonzalez and John Brooks are also in the mix.

Since being eliminated by Belgium last summer, the U.S. has capped 48 players at least once in the 12 friendlies it has played beginning in September. Houston Dynamo midfielder Brad Davis wasn’t one of them, but he was named to the Gold Cup roster and if he plays it will be the 34-year-old’s first action with the U.S. since it lost to Germany during the group stage in Brazil.

Also back is Graham Zusi, the Sporting Kansas City playmaker who had a pair of assists in Brazil but hasn’t played for the U.S. since a tie with Honduras in October.  

For the first time since making his national team debut in 2006, Brad Guzan enters a tournament for the U. S. national team as the No. 1 goalkeeper. The Aston Villa man, coming off some big saves in his last two caps, will be pushed by the seemingly ageless Nick Rimando. At 36, the Real Salt Lake goalkeeper is playing some of the best soccer of his career.

The six players who weren’t in Brazil for last summer’s World Cup but made the cut for the Gold Cup are Leon goalkeeper William Yarborough and Club America defender Ventura Alvarado, both of whom debuted with the U.S. this spring. They are joined by Seattle utility man Brad Evans, one of the last players cut from the team that went to Brazil; Bolton defender Tim Ream; midfielder Alfredo Morales, who just helped Ingolstadt earn promotion to the German top flight; and Los Angeles Galaxy attacker Gyasi Zardes, who earned his first U.S. call-up at this winter’s January camp and has been included in every U.S. roster since. 

Per tournament rules, after the group stage each team can replace up to six players from a list of players who were on a provisional list of 35 players each team submitted in early June. Among the options for the U.S. on that roster are veteran DaMarcus Beasley of Houston, mercurial Brek Shea of Orlando; and the New England Revolution attacking duo of Lee Nguyen and Juan Agudelo.

“It’s an exciting roster, and obviously we have a chance to make some changes after the group stage if necessary,” Klinsmann said. “We put all of these things into consideration, and we believe we have a very, very strong group that can win this prestigious tournament.”

Two years ago Klinsmann made several roster chances after the group stage.

The Americans, who have won the Gold Cup five times since winning the inaugural event in 1991, are coming into the tournament on a roll, unbeaten in their last four games including a 2-0 win over Mexico in April and come-from-behind road wins earlier this month over European powers Germany and the Netherlands.

The U.S. will prepare for the Gold Cup with a July 3 friendly with Guatemala in Nashville before beginning play in Group A against Honduras in Frisco, Texas on July 7. After that the team will face Haiti in Foxboro, Mass., on July 10 and Panama on July 13 in Kansas City. After potential knockout games (for the U.S.) in Baltimore and Atlanta, the final will be held on July 22 in Philadelphia.

Other than fellow regional power Mexico, the only CONCACAF team to defeat the U.S. in the Gold Cup is Panama, which beat the Yanks in group play in 2011. That result played a role in the firing of Bob Bradley, who was let go shortly after the U.S. lost in the final to Mexico after blowing a two-goal lead.

Based on this roster, Klinsmann fully intends to lift the trophy one month from now and start making plans to travel to Russia.

Brooke Tunstall is an American Soccer Now contributing editor and ASN 100 panelist. Follow him on Twitter.