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Donovan only available for Costa Rica friendly, will miss Belgium trip

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Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com


By ADAM SERRANO

CARSON, Calif. — Landon Donovan will only be playing in the first of the U.S. national team's two upcoming friendlies.

According to an official with U.S. Soccer, Donovan will not be traveling with the rest of the national team for its match against Belgium in Brussels on Sept. 6, stating that there was an agreement before the roster was announced that he would only play in the Costa Rica game on Friday.

This development allows Donovan to join the Los Angeles Galaxy as they take on Sporting Kansas City on Sept. 5 at Livestrong Sporting Park while his U.S. teammates travel overseas. In addition, it means less travel for the Galaxy captain, as Los Angeles will venture down to Mexico to take on Monarcas Morelia the following week in a CONCACAF Champions League match. 

While Donovan is being held out of the Belgium friendly, Clint Dempsey, Steve Cherundolo and Kyle Beckerman won't be available for the match with Costa Rica, as they will join the team in Europe.

How do you feel about Donovan missing the match against Belgium? What do you think it means for the Galaxy's match Sporting KC? Who would you like to see step up in Donovan's absence?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. From my perspective, either Donovan could give a shi* about national team play (more and more likely, lately) or he and the Galaxy are shaking in their boots, as Seatttle’s play has risen to a level that is utterly off the charts at the moment.

    I’m tempted by the first…. but it’s probably the latter.

    Reply
  2. As the years have gone by I’ve become more & more convinced that NFL football is a very overrated sport. That said, I have no illusions about its place in the U.S. sporting landscape. Many people consider it more American than mom and apple pie. Your dream will never become reality. I only hope that soccer can continue to grow become a more significant player in that landscape.

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  3. The whole of my existence is dedicated to taking down the NFL as much as possible. At the end of the day, and how it is in Europe, people like to look forward to the weekend games (in the US it’s NFL, in Europe EPL, Bundesliga, etc). That’s what we eventually need in the US. American football in general needs to get exposed as being an inferior sport to soccer, which is a debate, but a debate none-the-less.
    Now, bring on the NFL lovers to hurtle insults at me. .

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  4. Best field player. I’d argue the most influential is Brad Friedel, in his short stint. . .
    This is strictly for conversation sake.
    And to think this all started from a Eurotroll. . lol

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  5. And he would never add anyone to the national team camp who was not playing for club…

    Quite frankly the man was shite on for quite some time and finally got dumped for a hotter younger…more exciting girl the US was after before Bradley. Became public enemy #1 in the media and in soccer forums after a craptastic year following the World Cup.

    A comment like that? I wouldn’t put it past him.

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  6. “I expect BB will be issuing a statement that he was either misquoted or that the quotes were made up.”

    Yeah…but only after the “mis-quotes” served their purpose…?

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  7. As a Sporting KC supporter, this sucks, even though I’ll get to see Donovan in person again. Good for the league, though, and not a big deal for the US in the big picture.

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  8. Wait a second, when I read the story the first time I just scanned it quickly. I just read it again and see that BB supposedly made the statements to “CNN Arabic,” not as a job pitch to Egyptian officials as I originally thought. Yeah, that would be totally out of character for BB to make those statements to a reporter, especially if it were a TV interview. Maybe he was misquoted, a language problem, or a bad reporter–or both.

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  9. Rumors they never had a falling out and continue to be “bros” despite losing their favorite manager Bob Bradley won’t die down now.

    How many games has that made they’ve played together in comparison to without their fellow bro?
    =========
    Fail attempt at rumor fail.
    =========
    Do the two fails mean he succeeded, like a double negative?

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  10. Have you watched Bradley interviews the past 8 years plus?

    There is no realm of possibility he said that, so instead I laugh with you…as I know you posted it as a joke.

    Hilarious stuff.

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  11. Well I guess we should be glad because maybe Donovan wouldn’t have played in either game if both were in Europe or if one was on the East Coast and the other in Europe

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  12. how many games has “respect” won on paper? I know talent does and talent is developed and cultivated….ala playing time within a system under a manager.

    you can opt for respect, i’ll opt for more experience for players within the pool and for our manager to decide who can play at this level and who can’t.

    i can only imagine one of those attributes will help win matches.

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  13. how is allowing a player (many whom demanded he rest his body just a little over a year ago) that’s nearing 30 years old not seen as prudent and instead consumed with some supposed favoritism.

    hyperbole is thick in these parts of the woods.

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  14. I agree. The quotes strike me as odd coming from someone as boring as Bob Bradley. My hunch would be that he was speaking to Egyptian officials, trying to convince them to give him the job and using flattery, telling them how great they are in soccer compared to Americans, and that he thought it was an off-the-record situation, but that some reporter was in the room sitting over in the corner taking notes. And the Egyptian officials would have no idea how sensitive that statement would be to the US audience. In any case, I expect BB will be issuing a statement that he was either misquoted or that the quotes were made up.

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  15. individual talent doesn’t equal success. Brace yourself for a reality check = England.

    there’s no denying they’re loaded on paper but paper never wont any trophies unless it was a match of “who can shoot more wads of paper into the garbage can”.

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  16. Rumors they never had a falling out and continue to be “bros” despite losing their favorite manager Bob Bradley won’t die down now.

    How many games has that made they’ve played together in comparison to without their fellow bro?
    =========
    Fail attempt at rumor fail.

    Reply
  17. We are probably better off with beckerman missing the match. haha. Not quite at the international level (see wondo in Gold cup) but I love to see everyone keep brining up that is a “friendly” Lets see how you all respond after Belgium beats the US in the friendly 4-0. My guess is u wont be as forgiving. You always want to put your best team out there no matter what label is placed on the game. MLS should understand that and respect the dates. It will help the MLS much more if the national team plays well.

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  18. Actually, MLS did observe this international date. LA wasn’t suppose to play this weekend (I think you’ll notice only a couple games are scheduled this weekend). But KC had to postpone their originally scheduled game vs. LA from early in August, and it got moved to the one opening in LA’s schedule on Sept. 5th…..

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  19. Disagree about switching schedules. Winter games would be brutal, while you can generally schedule around the heat by doing evening games in the summer. Also, soccer won’t do well on that schedule when it is competing against college football, college basketball, the NFL, and the NBA. Summer also gives kids a chance to go to games while school is out, which like it or not, is an important part of the audience for teams without die-hard fanbases.

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  20. Not sure I believe that quote. As funny as it is, it seriously sounds out of character as a Bradley quote. The guy was the most “close-to-the-vest” person with the media so I can’t imagine him saying something like that, especially when it appears to diss American players.

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  21. what you fail to understand is the importance. You want some respect around the world for US soccer??? You WIN these games. Not lose 3-1

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  22. The situation with Kyle Beckerman is totally different from any of the others named to the USMNT. Beckerman is the only one to actually have a game this weekend, a key match against Philadelpia that is important for RSL to win a playoff spot. The link below connects to a story that explains how conflicted he to be missing the USMNT training camp this week and the Costa Rica game Friday.

    http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2011/08/26/beckerman-stay-behind-us-match-vs-costa-rica

    Reply

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