Deep into the night, Robbie Findley lay awake in his hotel room, not knowing what would happen.

Just hours earlier, the Real Salt Lake forward had not played at all for the United States national team in its final exhibition before naming its 23-man roster for the World Cup in South Africa next month, and his mind could not decide whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. Either the coaches already knew they wanted him and didn't need to see him play again, or they had already decided against him.

"I was going both ways with it," Findley said.

But when the coaches finally made their decisive call at 2:30 a.m., Findley learned to his eternal relief he had made the cut -- defying the conventional wisdom about his supposedly long-shot chances to play in the world's biggest sporting event and achieving something every soccer player dreams about.

"This is something you dream of growing up, watching all your role models playing in the World Cup," he said. "To be a part of it now speaks to a lot of hard work that I've put in, a lot of things I've been through and a lot of the people who helped me get to where I'm at now. I just feel very blessed and thankful."

Findley becomes part of a team that will look to avenge a disappointing performance at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, where it scored but one goal in its three preliminary games and did not advance out of the group stage.

The 2010 World Cup begins June 11, with the Americans playing games in the group stage against England, Algeria and Slovenia. They also will play Turkey on Saturday in Philadelphia, in their final international friendly before departing for South Africa.

Findley is not expected to start for the Americans, but rather to provide coach Bob Bradley a lightning-fast option off the bench late in games.

"We feel that Robbie still brings something special, especially as a reserve," Bradley said. "His speed when he comes into a match, his willingness to try and run behind a defense; we felt that those are things that when we looked at everything our team had, we could still use some of those qualities."

RSL coach Jason Kreis agreed.

But he also believes Findley would, in fact, be a good "foil" for fellow forwards Jozy Altidore or Edson Buddle as a starter in certain situations.

"Both of those guys aren't slow, for sure," Kreis said. "But I don't think that either one of them are break-neck fast like Robbie Findley is. Personally, I don't think that there's another player on that roster who has that kind of speed. That's why I'm not surprised by the decision. I think it's a good one."

His selection means Findley will miss the next three league games for RSL, and maybe more if the Americans advance out of the group stage.

For the first time, though, Major League Soccer is taking a hiatus during the group stage of the World Cup, preventing teams like RSL from having to play too long without their best players.

While much attention has been focused on the way forwards Herculez Gomez and Buddle came out of nowhere in the last six months to make the team along with Altidore, Findley also has a feel-good backstory.

The Phoenix native and Oregon State grad has only four international caps and scarcely had been on the national-team radar before scoring a career-high 12 goals for RSL last season. Even when he was called up to train for World Cup qualifiers against El Salvador and Trinidad & Tobago last year, he did not play in the games.

Yet his international inexperience is not uncommon, on this team.

Gomez has just three caps and Buddle two -- though Bradley said each player's superb form this year made it easier to select them.

Buddle leads MLS with nine goals in nine games for the Los Angeles Galaxy, while Gomez scored 10 goals for Puebla to win the scoring title in the Mexican league. Gomez cemented his place on the World Cup team by scoring for the Americans in the 4-2 loss to the Czech Republic on Tuesday night, the game in which Findley did not play.

"We recognize that we've chosen some younger guys," Bradley said. "But we believe that they have qualities that can still help us and thought that was the best way to go."

While the Americans will be led by veteran stars such as Landon Donvan, Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard, there is always room for an upstart like Findley to make an impact. Already, his achievement has improved his bargaining power as he prepares to negotiate a new contract, and a timely goal in the World Cup would only enhance that leverage.

Findley is playing in the final year of his contract with RSL, and has turned down the team's initial offer for a new deal as he considers moving to Europe next season. His agent said recently Findley already has decided to do that, but Findley insisted he has not made up his mind."Even if he goes there and doesn't play a single minute, that atmosphere can't help but mature you and open your eyes to everything that's out there," Kreis said.

In any case, Findley clearly is still digesting the biggest news of his life.

"It was just relief" to hear he had been chosen, he said. "I'm just thankful for getting this opportunity."