Phillyist is, of course, just as patriotic as all of our other Ist brethren out there. And while we might not go crazy flouting it the way we suspect our friends at Londonist will over the next few weeks, we'll still be rooting hard for the good ol' U-S-of-A. Specifically, we'll be rooting for two players on the U.S. roster who hail from Philadelphia: Bobby Convey and Chris Albright.

Convey, who plays on the left side either in the midfield or as a defender, was raised in Northeast Philadelphia. He attended Penn Charter before transferring to the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., which runs a residency program for players in United States youth national teams. Convey skipped college and went right to the pros, joining D.C. United of Major League Soccer in 2000. On March 25 of that year, Convey became the youngest player in MLS history at the time, when he came on as a substitute in the season opener against the Los Angeles Galaxy.

(Phillyist knows this meaningless tidbit because we were there in the stands that day. As Philadelphia has no MLS team to call its own, Phillyist had to pick between the two closest teams geographically: D.C. United and Red Bull New York, formerly known as the New York/New Jersey MetroStars. We picked the team with Philadelphians in it over the team which had both New York and New Jersey in its name, and plays in Giants Stadium no less.)

Convey stayed in D.C. until 2004, when he signed a contract with Reading of the English League Championship (a division below the Premier League). This past season, Reading won the League Championship and was thus promoted to the Premier League for the first time in its history. Convey started 45 games, scored seven goals and recorded 10 assists. He also had a stellar disciplinary record: only one yellow card and no red cards.

With the national team, Convey has played 36 games. You'll hear a lot of people saying that he has "won 36 caps," which is the same thing, and please excuse Phillyist if it lapses into the King's English a bit instead of the President's. He has scored one goal, the game-winner against Costa Rica in the 2003 Gold Cup. Convey has played particularly well this year, including an assist on the U.S.' first goal against Venezuela last Friday. He might even be in the starting lineup for the U.S.' first game of the World Cup, against the Czech Republic June 12.

Chris Albright was called into the team as a replacement when Frankie Hejduk got hurt. Albright also attended Penn Charter, and went from there to the University of Virginia for two years before turning pro. He was drafted by the now-defunct Miami Fusion, traded to DC United in 1999, then traded again to the Galaxy in 2002.

Albright played as a forward for a long time, but was converted to a right back by then-Galaxy coach Sigi Schimd. It was at this position that he was able to make a case to be on the national team, and he earned his first cap in 1999. He now has a total of 14 caps and one goal, scored against Jamaica in 1999.

There was a possibility of a third Philadelphian making the World Cup, though not for the United States. Eddie Gustafsson was in the running to be a backup goalkeeper for Sweden (yes, Sweden!), but unfortunately was not named to the final roster. So Phillyist will console ourselves with midfielder Ben Olsen, a Middletown, Pa., native with 33 caps and 6 goals who also plays for D.C. United.

Next: Nations United.

Photo Credit: AP/Mark Duncan. Bobby Convey is the guy pushing over Jorge Rojas of Venezuela as they battle for a loose ball.