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.
He was being facetious.
They should still recognize international dates
Yeah, I noticed that too. Their roster doesn’t seem too intimidating without him on it.
Of course, because why settle for rational explanations when we can have ridiculous conspiracy theories!
I see an English language story out of Egypt, and it appears that Bob Bradley is fighting tooth and nail to be named coach of Egypt’s national team. Very interesting story, with this hilarious quote from BB: “The Egyptian player is a talented one unlike the American who depends mainly on his fitness.” He also declares: “I can lead Egypt to qualify for the coming World Cup finals.”
The story does not mention that BB was fired as the USMNT’s coach, instead saying that “Bradley left his post with the USA last July…”
Here is the link:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/6/52/20104/Sports/National-Teams/Bradley-promises-Egypt-glory-at–World-Cup-.aspx
Bunbury is the only player that is missing a game, since only 5 teams are playing between now and next weekend. The only reason Bunbury is staying with the team is because of Sporting KC’s depth at forward, and him being the 3rd or 4th best forward on the team.
my thoughts exactly.
whenever they are both there, there’s no doubt they’ll both be on the field. now, in two separate matches, we get to see how Klinsmann fields each team when he has just one, i’m very excited.
it would be really nice to see Gatt join the team in Belgium since LD is gone and Gatt can fit into the vacancies that LD leaves, as I feel he has similar skills
Heh. Of course, *now* there will be rumors…
Is Donovon seriously missing another match against a big team? Belgium may not be up there in the rankings yet but the young players and team they are putting together is quite impressive. I’m not one for conspiracies and have never bought into this one in particular, but its getting to the point where this is absurd. what makes him so special that he gets to make arrangements to miss games? what other player, anywhere else in the world gets to make arrangements regarding which friendlies he’s going to play in? i know it makes sense some times to not call certain players in from europe given certain circumstances, but i don’t agree with this.
Settle DOWN Nancy !@&
You are CORRECT Sir! That is the objective.. because sooner, rather than later, both Dempsey and Donovan are going to age out of the National team!
Good opportunity for other players to get involve… We need Rogers, Shea
, pontius playing their spots and get more experience
Link?
Exactly Right.. It provides a chance to see other possibilities in a starting role.. It’s a FRIENDLY
To give a little perspective Dempsey’s new teammate Ruiz isn’t making the trip for Costa Rica either.
It’s A FRIENDLY!
Landycakes is an unpatriotic terrorist!
What are you talking about? I never heard any rumors about something like that.
yeah, not sure what your point is.
Yeah, thankfully we could send a bunch of New York players anywhere since they aren’t going to the playoffs.
The USSF can be blamed for scheduling an absolutely meaningless friendly against Costa Rica 6,000 miles away from where our best players are employed. They should have played the two games in similar time zones. We will have to wait until October now until we can see a potentially full-strength squad. It is hard to gauge a player’s potential when he is surrounded by different players each game.
remember when Bradley sent a second string to the Bahamas in a World Cup elimination match? I mean, sure we were up 7-0 on aggregate, but still… what favortism to rest all the best players and to get a look at the fringe players.
He is in the camp. That is what is important. Even Johnson who isnt cleared to play just yet for the games was brought into the camp. That is where the players learn about each other, bond, become a team, etc… not just the 90 mins on game day.
We already know he can play. There are other people that we dont know that about just yet. So, its good for LD, good for LA, good for MLS (because of the CONCACAF game) and good for USMNT because they can try a few different things between the two games and get experience in a friendly.
While LD and Clint are two great players and I want them on the pitch together as much as possible, I think these two games will be interesting so close together to see how the team features with just one or the other on the field at a time.
LD’s schedule aside….I think it was clear and mentioned before the two games that one would involve more MLS guys and the other more Europe players. We worry about depth…this is a great way to explore our depth with good mixes in both games and not using the same 7 at the start for both while maybe only test one or two guys at a time during the game.
These are not qualifiers or natural rival matches…they are good opportunities to build our team. Lets get as much diverse talent into camp so our team has some great sessions together, and then just come up with a plan come game day with roster options so that we have solid options and dont feel like we fall apart when one starter goes down with an injury during a game.
No kidding. Everyone brace yourself and remember how talented those Belgium kids are.
Rumors of a falling out between Donovan and Dempsey over the Bradley firing won’t die down now. How many games has that made that the two won’t have played with each other?
I agree and that may be the reason Klinsman is fine with this.
I didn’t get the first part of your post but +1 for the rest. MLS doesn’t need to switch to Aug to May calendar but they should observe International dates.
I have no problem with Donovan missing the Belgium game. Similar move pulled by Real SL for Kyle Beckerman. It just means the MLS playoffs are approaching fast and these teamsplayers are in it to win it. 🙂
Although Donovan is my favorite player, he has been a part of the national team for so long that it is interesting to see the team without him once in a while. What if he gets injured? The team always needs a backup plan.
When u become the all time leader in goals and assists and are arguably the best American to ever play the game, I think you have earned a few privileges. If he was skipping the Belgium game to go on vacation thats different.
When they announced the friendlies and their location/dates, it was obvious to anyone that it would likely involve two different rosters — an MLS/Mexico roster for Costa Rica and a European roster for Belgium. JK didn’t want to go that far as a formal matter because it’s his first real camp with the players, but it’s not far away from the reality with these moves. Bradley would have been even more likely to go with split squads.
bit of a disappointment that we won’t be able to see one of our best against a good opponent like Belgium, but should provide an interesting opportunity for possibly someone like Brek Shea to get a start against quality opposition.
Looks like Arena still has some weight to throw around with the national team setup.
You should go ahead and change your name to eurotroll.
damn you MLS, recognize international dates!!!
Can’t argue with it. It was an agreement with his club team before. Besides, Donovan rarely ever gets an extended break, like Dempsey. They are only in their late twenties, but have a lot of wear and tear on their bodies. They might be in great condition, but still need a break from time to time. It also gives Klinsmann a chance to experiment more.
JK is managing players on a case by case basis, just like every other int’l coach in the world, just like BB did.
That same “favoritism” you mention is also for the likes of Beckerman, Cherundolo, and Dempsey. This sort of player management happens ALL the time, and players know it. This isn’t a high school team, they’re professionals. I don’t think it’s affecting morale at all.
Besides, if anyone has earned “special player” status, it’s your all-time leading scorer.
this is smart by Klinsi. it is best for American soccer as a whole. Don’t think Landon or anybody would play well in Concachampions game after travelling LA-Brussels-LA-Morelia. Landon is fit enough to play a lot of games but that travel would be too much for anybody. only a vain fool like Beckham would even try, and we know how that worked out, or rather didnt.
This isn’t your high school team.
Special players like… Kyle Beckerman?
The only thing I don’t get is why Altidore can’t skip the Costa Rica friendly, when Dempsey, Donovan and Beckerman are allowed to do just one.
Trolls gonna troll.
I don’t know that Bradley had that track record of treating players as different as Donovan and Beckerman exactly the same, which is what Klins appears to be doing.
+1
I blame MLS though it is a friendly not like Robbie Keane being held back for Euro qualies. As we get more and more international players it seems stupid for MLS to continue with there ignorance of international dates. They don’t need to switch to Aug to May calendar but they should observe these International Weekends.
which national team coaches don’t show this type of favoritism
If it was agreed to before the roster announcement, I doubt there will be a replacement named in Landon’s absence.
Man, that Belgium friendly might be brutal…
Same old favoritism that BB had for special players. Great for morale Kilinsy!
all I know with all the people missing 1 of the 2 games this should give us a lot of different things we can see. It will really test Klins to field a team and get a cohesive unit out there even though there are changes from game to game.
Can we call up Mix to replace him for Belgium?