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Jones will miss Brazil friendly, Altidore and Gonzalez called in (UPDATED)

Jermaine Jones (ISIphotos.com)

Photo by ISIphotos.com  

German-born midfielder Jermaine Jones will have to wait a while longer to make his U.S. national team debut.

Jones is skipping next week's USA-Brazil friendly after initially accepting the invitation. Jones and Columbus Crew defender Chad Marshall have been replaced on the U.S. roster by World Cup forward Jozy Altidore and Los Angeles Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez, who has yet to be capped by the national team. Marshall withdrew from the squad, with no explanation provided by U.S. Soccer as to why.

German reports stated that Jones and Schalke manager Felix Magath determined it was too early for him to take part in international duty after being sidelined for nearly a year with a broken leg. Here is a statement from Jones, released by U.S. Soccer:

"I would like to thank Bob Bradley and the U.S> Federation greatly for my first official invitation," Jones said. "It is an honor that I have been working towards for over a year, and while I initially felt like I was ready to make my first appearance, it is also extremely important to me that I am 100 percent fit for my first national team game and that I make a good impression on the manager and my teammates.

"I hope to receive another invitation and finally fulfill my goal of playing with the U.S. national team in the very near future."

Jones missed the entire 2009/2010 club season as he dealt with a leg fracture that failed to heal properly. He has since return to action with Schalke this pre-season, even scoring in a match against Hamburg last week.

Jones has been with the U.S. national team once before, having come in to spend time with the team during the team's friendly against the Netherlands in March (the above photo is from that visit).

Jones' next chance for a call-up is likely to come in October, when a rumored friendly against Poland is in the works. 

The United States takes on Brazil on Tuesday at the New Meadowlands Stadium. More than 55,000 tickets have already been sold for the match which will feature a U.S. roster with 15 World Cup players against a young Brazil squad.

What do you think of these developments? Disappointed to not see Jones? Happy to see Altidore coming in? Excited for Omar Gonzalez?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Findley should have declined. He has the potential but he is not ready yet to be capped for the USMNT. He is fast but without much sense to attack at players, etc.

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  2. maybe you should read it again. he said bradley should feel embarassed and that he should call up players that are 100% ready to go.

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  3. Come on, Castillo has not been in form for a long, long time. I want him to do well, but Ramiro Corrales or Todd Dunnivent deserve a call up before Castillo at this point if we’re basing it on form.

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  4. I’m a little disappointed with the squad. On paper it’s a pretty good one for giving us at least a shot at a win or draw, but from a development standpoint for kicking off the 2014 cycle I’m not very thrilled. I would’ve liked to see a lot more experimentation on the back line. And you’re right about Torres. Our midfield is our most talented pool of players but we still have trouble setting the pace of matches, so it would be nice to see someone like him get a central role.

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  5. Wow what maturity and contrast between what the adamant Charlie Davies said or his actions. Great job Jones, we support you 100%!!!

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  6. Unfortunate to see Jones withdraw, although understandable. I respect a player for wanting his first appearance for the MNT to be when he is fully fit, although the timing of the events seem a touch odd, with the acceptance, then withdrawal.

    Also unfortunate that some US fans have not learned the lesson of Gomez, and the fact that a player can rebound from a disappointing spell. Gomez played himself back into the fold, as did Beasley after the atrocity that was his match v. Brazil in the Confederations Cup.
    The Kljestan bashing has to stop until we see if he has made progress.

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  7. I’m a little dissappointed that Jones isn’t going to be there, but I can understand the decision he made. He’ll get called in during the next FIFA date at which time we can see how he does with the team.

    Marshall declining is a little odd to me, but since it opened the door for Omar I’m actually happy about it. A 15 minute camio at the end of the match would be great for his confidence and give him a taste for what he can expect at the International Level.

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  8. No can do…this is a forum for opinions and Sacha is a head case and not worthy of being called in. There are more deserving players.

    so shut your pie hole 🙂

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  9. Uh. “muched sowed” doesn’t mean ANYTHING. At all, it’s gibberish.

    Now, if he’d said something like, “It’s sewn up, pretty much”, that would’ve been proper grammar. Then people wouldn’t think Issac is a) a moron or b) have absolutely no idea what he’s talking about in regards to Jozy’s “definite” future with Besiktas.

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  10. Yes, that’s a great idea. Marshall should decline all call ups for the next 4 years.

    Marshall wasn’t on the World Cup squad because he wasn’t playing that well at the time. It had been sometime since he had been playing well in MLS. He’s just starting to get back to his 2007 form

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  11. Or he could grow by going up against competition that’s not as good as Brazil but still conducive to his growth like CONCACAF opponents (Mexico,Honduras) and THEN see how he does against these better teams.

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  12. Super psyched for Omar. Don’t particularly care if he sees the field much (or at all), since that will almost assuredly come in the future; just being around the big boys for a few days will be great for him. UMD representin’!

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  13. While I do want to see Jones in action for the US, I am glad he decided not to come to this friendly. He needs to continue to get back into football shape, and the best place to do that is at Schalke. And he will have plenty of games to do that with the Bundesliga starting next week, the DFB-Pokal (German Cup) the week after, and the Champions League next month. He will get fit with his club and be ready to go for the US when we are preparing for the Gold Cup

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  14. I’m referring more to BB tinkering with the line-up and running out different players just to see what they can do. To follow a good WC by the US by beating a young Brazilian team would be nice.

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