Guess who's back?
Seattle Sounders forward Eddie Johnson revealed on Twitter on Friday night that he has been called up by the U.S. national team for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Antigua & Barbuda and Guatemala.
Johnson sent out the following tweet on Friday night:
Thank you to the Seattle Sounders and my teammates family and friends for believing in me when everyone else didn't. #igotthecallupguys
If Johnson did indeed secure a national team call-up, it would mark his first time with the U.S. national team since he made a substitute's appearance in a scoreless draw against Colombia on Oct. 12, 2010, almost two years ago.
Johnson has enjoyed a career renaissance since joining the Sounders this season. He has compiled 15 goals and two assists for the Sounders this season, regaining the form that once made him a regular U.S. national team call-up.
Klinsmann may also be looking to call on Johnson's experience in World Cup qualifying. Johnson has scored eight goals in nine career World Cup qualifying matches, with seven of those goals coming during the qualifying cycle for the 2006 World Cup. One of those goal actually came against Guatemala, in a 2-0 win on March 30th, 2005 in Birmingham, Alabama. The U.S. faces Guatemala in the final qualifier of the current round, on Oct. 16th at Livestrong Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kansas.
If Johnson is being called in, it will be interesting to see who Klinsmann chooses to leave behind for the remaining qualifiers. Terrence Boyd has been on the bench for Rapid Vienna in recent matches after enjoying a fast start following his transfer from Borussia Dortmund so he could wind up being left out.
Klinsmann will formally announce the U.S. World Cup qualifying roster on Monday, when the team will convene in Miami for training camp ahead of Friday's qualifier against Antigua & Barbuda.
What do you think of this development? Excited to see Johnson back in the field? Think he has shown enough to merit another look? See him earning playing time in the upcoming qualifiers?
Share your thoughts below.
Klinsmann haters? come on man.
how about this instead.
the honeymoon is long over and there are bills to pay.
What a great opportunity to get to work and balance accounts than with these two games ahead
basically, it’s Klinsmann’s USMNT career at stake (if the US doesn’t qualify he, or whoever the coach, is gone). I expect bold moves ahead with so much on the line and amazaing contributions from all involved
interesting info I was not aware of, thanks bizzy
like your analysis, makes sense all around. EJ could score off a header. we’ll see
Watch.. he’s gonna score just to make you even more pissed
LOL
There are always exception. JK called up Gatt but he had to beg out due to injury and JK said then that there will be exceptions.
Lichaj is hardly an exceptional player.
“Good in MLS, but over his head in intl play.”
That seems to be some sort of insult. Even if that is true, Jamaica and Guatemala seem to rely on a lot of MLS players and Antigua & Barbuda have some players who would love to get MLS contracts.
If EJ gets in these games he may well be covered by MLS defenders. EJ is an MLS standout.
So by that measurement what is the problem?
Well, at least the worst since I heard Jersey Shore has been canceled. OMG!
Am I the only one that thinks it is classless to Tweet it out before the coach posts the team?
He probably deserves the call up. And I wish him well.
My only thought is that this callup comes at the expense of someone else, and frankly there are a lot of other players I rate before EJ. That said I hope he shows well!
“If you put Dempsey on the UNION he’ll suck….Bar none.”
That is the first time I have ever seen anyone claim Adu would be more important to a team than Dempsey.
The Lichaj that you and Nate and Benny are talking about was the guy who last played in the final of the 2011 Gold Cup, a game where no one in the defense played particularly well ( watch a replay sometime).
Since then Lichaj has had a major injury and after missing most of the season came back to start the last ten games of the year for Villa. The general consensus from Villa observers is he did so because both starting fullbacks ( Hutton and Warnock ) were either hurt or so miserable that their lives were being threatened by Villa fans for the crime of impersonating professional players.
In the ten games Lichaj played, Villa adid not win one of them and gave up about ten goals. So it was hardly a rousing success.
As soon as they got the new manager, Lambert just about the first thing he did was buy a new right back, Lownton and then he brought in a new left back, Bennett. Lichaj has been given a chance to win the job, though some say Lambert is just having Lichaj keep the seat warm until the new guys can get acclimated. Right now it seems Lichaj’s time is up.
However the most important thing to happen is that since Lichaj’s last US game a new manager was named. Lichaj did well for Bradley it is true, but it’s not as if he was proven starter like MB90 or Dempsey. And one year is an eternity in soccer.
Besides, as we have seen with Sasha, JK does not believe that eveyone Bradley capped is worthy of a recall. If he really needs a sub for Dolo the following guys can do a fine job, Chandler(??), Fabian, Parkhurst, Spector, Beitashour, Edu, Danny Williams, Cameron, Michael OF,etc.
Right back and frankly left back is not a priority with the USMNT. You can always use depth but JK obviously felt Lichaj was better off staying at Villa and fighting for a job. Hopefully he wins one but it is possible Lichaj will never play for the US again and he certainly is not a lock for the 2014 World Cup.
You all underestimate just how hard it is to break into the USMNT.
haha.. to all the EJ haters.
DeMerit? You can’t be serious…
Wow. How much bleach did you drink today?
makes sense to me
he adds elements that change the team without getting too into it, and he is in great form playing in that Sounder attack with some playmakers and fitting in well with them with his game. The way he and Rosales have clicked is great to see in MLS, even tho it is for that team 🙂
he and Wondo are different players, bring a different bag of tricks to the party, so to me it’s not that one deserves it more or not but that the talents EJ brings are perhaps more what Coach is looking to inject into his squad at the tip of the sword
I’m looking forward to it, hope EJ steps in and shows right away, and then off we go
With that thinking, Klinsmann should not invite Donovan then.
Congrats on the invite Eddie, good luck.
@Edwin and Kjasjerk, that’s dinosaur years in football. Klinsmann was a striker and if he does not like what he sees in practice, no one in this country can question him. He is proven, nobody here is.
Gomez was never Santos Laguna’s main striker; it was Oribe Peralta. So going back to the bench is not a surprise.
OMG SERIOUSLY THE WORST THING THAT I HAVE EVER HEARD EVER
Nobody cares about Fulahm supporters.
Very well said bizzy.
Jesus, you Lichaj fanboys are crazy. He is the 3rd-4th best Fullback at his absolute best. Not better than Parkhurst and IMO not better than Castillo.
This dude had a 14month injury and cant consistantly crack the XI. So yeah, lets drag him away to Antigua when he is NOT going to play, and we can set him further back in his club situation.
He has played in 8 matches for us. Pump the breaks, he is not a game changer.
Absolutely the worse news ever.
now THESE sounds like a baseball decision based on stats.
Would it work? beats me.
I’m comfortable with too many changes on the most important games for these qualifiers to date. I hope he is just taking a look at them in training, not in a real game.
Parkhurst will be called in his form is amazing right now. He was terrorizing Chelsea in their champions league match and created a lot of chances on his side, was also very solid defensively. Looked very calm and confident on the ball not at all over-matched. Great showing.
FWIW he was an alternate for the Home and Away Series vs. Jam. they announced when the timbers played seattle
In other news, England called up Emile Heskey…
Produced little? he was our leading scorer the last WC qualifying cycle
i honestly dont give 2 craps about his recent form for seattle sounders. this guy was an international flop. hey we might as well bring in taylor twellman from retirement while were at it. he was good in the mls. ha what a joke.
Klinsmann’s reason for not calling up LIchaj: “We think it’s too late to introduce new players this late in this WCQ round”
Hypocrite?
Wow…truly can’t believe the amount of positive comments on this!
Do people realize that to this day the EJ signing is still mocked and joked about amongst Fulham supporters.
This is just sad…
Eddie Johnson? Where’s JOB? Where’s Beasley? eddie Lewis? Let’s get the 2005-06 gang back together, we already have Boca and Dolo
I like Kinsmann but he is being a boob on this one.Lichaj should have been called up a long time ago.I do not buy what Kinsi is selling us about Lichaj.
No body comes close to Adu on the union team. Injuries and play time for other players is why Adu misses the starting line-up sometimes, because Philly is already out of the play offs……
When Freddy plays more than half the game, the Union have 7 wins, 5 losses, and 1 tie. When Freddy plays half the game or less, the Union have 1 win, 6 losses, 3 ties (THE 700th LEVEL)
Freddy Adu is tied for fourth in MLS this season with 15 big chances created (only behind Landon Donovan – 18, Felipe and Patrick Nyarko – 17, MLS.COM).
If you put Dempsey on the UNION he’ll suck….Bar none. You can create chances but if no one is putting them away you have nothing, so don’t associate philly’s failure with Adu’s talent
I love Eddie’s speed. It is a dimension which the other forward options in the pool do not have. Years ago I remember imaginging and Eddie Johnson/Jozy Altidore pairing being the future of U.S. attacking soccer….could still happen. Love it.
Groan,
he has already proven over and over that he is a Jason Kreiss, Taylor Twellman an Wondolowski.
Good in MLS, but over his head in intl play.
I’m with you man, Parky is an assist leader in the league, and highest on his team. He’s even scored a couple at this point. We all now about his heady defensive work as well.
Lichaj > Parkhurst only if you consider speed and ignore everything else.
Yeah….because scoring in qualifying and Gold Cup and against Spain means nothing…..
Thank you….and when did Fabian Johnson become better than say….Phillip Lahm? LMAO
Biff….you’re my kind of guy!
Those are the sentiments/doubts surging through my head as well.
Has Klinsmann decided to lose the 6-3-1 in favor of something a bit more offensive? I’ll still be surprised when I see EJ on list…if he was in the mix, he should already have been brought in sometime in the previous year…to throw him in now is unfair to all parties involved. THATS WHY YOU PLAY FRIENDLYS!You don’t bring someone in cold…but EJ please prove me wrong and continue that 8 goal per 9 games ratio!
oy vey Edwin.
Chandler is not interested in the International Game. Why bring him up? How many times are you going to let him say ‘no’ to you asking him to the Prom?
Lichaj>Parkhurst
But, Parkhurst will more than likely get the call this time around.
On EJ. Coach K is seeking some offense perhaps? Certainly, theyve been piss poor in that area for the most part.
Dude, Adu can’t even lock down a place in the starting lineup for the UNION.
Do you know how bad the Union are? (Apologies to any Union fans reading this).
Eddie Johnson has shown that he can score against Concacaf opponents. Wondo has never shown that he can score at the international level (not that he’s necessarily been given the chance). He’s Twellman 2.0.
Bingo…hes had more chances than anybody on the front line and produced little. I think Klinsman has about had it with him
Lichaj is NOT better than Parkhurst. Parkhurst will be getting the call on Monday
To those who don’t understand why you’d call a player who clearly isn’t international quality: Don’t forget that EJ is DYNAMITE against Caribbean and Central American sides! He’s scored against El Salvador, Panama, Jamaica, T&T, Guatemala, Barbados. . . . In fact, he ONLY scores against Caribbean and Central American sides.
We don’t know who got the cold shoulder yet. Pontius may yet be on the roster. Jurgen knows we need wingers and Pontius can fill that void.