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Donovan leads 35-man provisional USMNT Gold Cup roster

Landon Donovan

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

By DAN KARELL

Landon Donovan’s sparkling form in Major League Soccer hasn’t gone unnoticed.

United States Men’s National Team manager Jurgen Klinsmann, who left the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder off his June World Cup qualifying roster, included Donovan on a provisional list of 35 players that could be chosen for the 2013 Gold Cup.

Also set for a potential recall to the national team are defenders Carlos Bocanegra and Oguchi Onyewu, once permanent fixtures in the side but injuries and lack of playing time has left them out of the team. Onyewu has not been called in since June of last year, while Bocanegra has been out of the squad since the 2-1 defeat to Honduras, where he was left on the substitutes bench.

Young forwards Bobby Wood and Jack McInerney have been included as well and if selected for the final 23-man squad, would be in line to make their first senior appearances for their nation. In addition, if he appears in a Gold Cup match, midfielder Mikkel “Mix” Diskerud would be permanently cap-tied to the U.S.

Here is the provisional USMNT Gold Cup roster:

GOALKEEPERS– Bill Hamid, Sean Johnson, Nick Rimando, Tally Hall

DEFENDERS– Carlos Bocanegra, Oguchi Onyewu, Omar Gonzalez, Matt Besler, Clarence Goodson, Edgar Castillo, DaMarcus Beasley, Michael Parkhurst, Corey Ashe, Tony Beltran, Michael Orozco

MIDFIELDERS– Kyle Beckerman, Graham Zusi, Brek Shea, Joe Corona, Stuart Holden, Brad Davis, Alejandro Bedoya, Mikkel Diskerud, Brad Evans, Josh Gatt, Benny Feilhaber, Eddie Johnson, Jose Torres

FORWARDS– Will Bruin, Herculez Gomez, Landon Donovan, Alan Gordon, Jack McInerney, Chris Wondolowski, Bobby Wood

What do you think of the squad? Excited to see Donovan back? Did any of the selections surprise you? Who do you think should have been included on the list?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. And the roster will be …

    GOALKEEPERS- Bill Hamid, Sean Johnson, Nick Rimando (3)

    DEFENDERS- Carlos Bocanegra, Oguchi Onyewu, Clarence Goodson, Edgar Castillo, Michael Parkhurst, Corey Ashe, Tony Beltran, Michael Orozco (8)

    MIDFIELDERS- Kyle Beckerman, Brek Shea, Stuart Holden, Brad Davis, Alejandro Bedoya, Mikkel Diskerud, Josh Gatt, Jose Torres (8)

    FORWARDS- Will Bruin, Landon Donovan, Jack McInerney, Chris Wondolowski (4)

    Reply
  2. Like the roster but should have guzan altidore and dempsy all other teams with the exception of mexico will have there best

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  3. I don’t think any MLS player who is with the WCQ team will be held over for the Gold Cup, and depending on their PT the same goes for Castillo, Beasley and Corona. That said, if I was the coach, I’d roll with this…

    Donovan——Mac——-Bedoya

    ———Mixx——Corona

    ————Torres

    Castillo–Boca–Orozco–Gatt

    Reply
    • you mean MLS players who play a major role in WCQs. there will certainly be carry over of MLS players.

      of course, even then, it still seems like JK is ready to use Omar and Besler for the Gold Cup too.

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  4. Can’t believe that Donovan is playing in this meaningless tournament so that egomaniac Klinsmann can pick Zusi for the HEX games. Ridiculous.

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    • Agreed. Ridiculous that Landon was not called in so he can start building chemistry with the team and potentially play in very important Hex games. Anything less then six points in the WCQs this month and Klinsmann is gonna look incompetent and have some explainin’ to do.

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    • 100% agree, if JK doesn’t lead the US to the top 3 after passing on a sure Best XI player for the US, he will never work as a coach again….it would serve him right.

      (I am a firm believer thar LD should have sucked it up an played the first few qualifiers too)

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    • Hate to simply say ‘agree’ – but I do. There may be a lot more to the dynamic between Landon and JK, going back to Bayern and even to their link when Jurgen was consulting the Galaxy. Maybe Jurgen has felt like Landon hasn’t fully been there for him since he’s taken over the helm. Jurgen really stuck his neck out for Landon at Munich too. Perhaps a little bit of it is he thinks Landon hasn’t reciprocated? Who knows.

      Therefore leaving Landon off the Hex roster could have been a message-sending ploy mixed in with some face saving as well as saying that if you’re not fully engaged and part of the mix we’ll move on. Message sent.

      But Landon’s game adds an element we’ve definitely been missing, if we don’t get at least 6 points out of these 3 games the heat will rightly be on JK because his message-sending to Landon will have cost the team. So this could very well backfire if we do poorly, even putting his job in jeopardy.

      So Klinsy is taking a risk but it is a very complex situation. I just hope that after all this Landon will be a regular face in USMNT camps again going forward to next summer – and the US wins at least 2 of these 3 qualifiers because the last thing we need is the chaos (and possibly even missing out on the WC) that would happen if we don’t.

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  5. Good for Onyewu and Boca to be able to get some minutes and train up the youngsters. If they return home to MLS, no fount they would win back their starting positions over the shaky newbies. I actually think that if you just put the Confederate Cup team from a few years ago back together, they would still be a better team than the current USMNT, except At left back. But why can Lichaj and Spector not get a look? Spector is more versatile and better than Cameron at right back. And both Lichaj and Spector are better than Ashe and Beltran, especially since we are missing our starting fullbacks. Also, Edu or Alonso should be on this team as CDM and I agree that Pontius should have gotten a look. But, other than the terrible fullback situation, this roster has everything it needs. I just hope the right 12 are released before the final cut.

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    • I am also glad that bocanegra and onyewu may get some minutes, but they have fallen too far behind to jump ahead of besler or Cameron now. Edu and Spector were never going to make this roster because they play full time in Europe. Alonso can’t play for the United States…

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    • Herschel

      Boca was the left back for most of that Confederations Cup run. Why do you want to exclude him?

      Spector is recovering from an ankle injury and has not played a lot recently.

      As for Lichaj, since you never see him play I don’t see how you can say he is better than Beltran and Ashe. Those guys have won their playing time.

      Eric gets on the field only when a starter gets hurt.

      Edu is hurt and Alonso is not yet eligible to play for the US and may never be…

      Reply
  6. Will also add here that Chandler is no longer injured. He was training again last week and I am certain that Klinsmann invited him to this camp so he could be with the guys and improve Chandler’s chemistry with them and also possibly play in games next week. Let’s not forget Klinsmann invited others to this camp who were recently injured and a journalist should ask Klinsmann whether he also invited Chandler and his feelings about Chandler and the Gold Cup. If Chandler declines Klinsmann’s invitation for the Gold Cup, then I think this is just another in a long line of snubs that shows Chandler is lazy when it comes to USMNT duty and not truly committed to the team and that he should be ignored for the rest of the WC 2014 cycle. And if snubs Klinsmann yet again of the Gold Cup, will anyone be surprised he misses the September qualifiers?

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  7. After reading the posts above just want to emphasize that nobody above is trying to tout Lichaj as the saviour. What we are saying is that he has played several seasons for a Premier League team and that it is unfathomable that Klinsmann has not called him in for a look. Just a look. That is all we are asking. Lichaj made several appearance for Aston Villa late in the season in a massive relegation fight and generally did a good job in those appearances within a team known for bad defense. I have no doubt that Lichaj would defensively be a better left back the DMB, who I think should be our starting left winger, and would be better than Parkhurst and Chandler at both RB and LB. Not sure about Cameron, who I think is a solid RB.

    Klinsmann called Edu, Shea, Williams, Goodson and Parkhurst for this camp, all of whom either did not play for months or hardly at all, why can’t he give Lichaj a look. Seeing how Klinsmann operates, I would not be surprised if he is afraid that Lichaj will perform well and then would have to jettison one of his faves to make room for Lichaj.

    Reply
    • “After reading the posts above just want to emphasize that nobody above is trying to tout Lichaj as the saviour. What we are saying is that he has played several seasons for a Premier League team and that it is unfathomable that Klinsmann has not called him in for a look. Just a look. That is all we are asking.”

      biff,

      ”Just a look”?

      There is video and there are scouting reports. Do you suppose Lambert is full of praise for Lichaj?

      If these various sources are positive, then yeah you bring the guy in for a look, if they are not then tell me why waste the time?

      If you have been an exceptional player with injury circumstances (Holden, Shea) or have a history of accomplishment with the US (Gooch) then maybe you make an exception.

      Lichaj has none of this.
      He gifted Mexico their tying goal in the 2011 Gold Cup final (watch the replay) and had never been part of a JK team. Much of the positive vibe about him was precisely because the measuring stick was Bornstein and people were not being very fussy. It’s ironic that people talk about how Eric shut down Bale because there was another US back who shut down Messi so bad that allegedly they moved Leo to the other side in the second half. That was Jonny Bornstein in the 2007 Copa America.

      Left back? Lichaj is not comfortable there and has said as much several times. DMB is preferable to Lichaj at any position on the field except maybe keeper. He’s more versatile, more experienced; DMB is an all around better soccer player than Lichaj..
      Lichaj has been at Villa for four managers ONeill, Houllier, McLeish, and Lambert. Maybe they hate Americans, except they all loved Freidel and Guzan, but the fact remains that Eric failed to impress any of them. His half season or so of league games and starts have come due to injuries to the starters or ineptness on the part of the starters. Once they came back or new ones were brought in, it was back to the bench for Eric.

      Edu, Shea, Williams, Goodson and Parkhurst the guys you mentioned, all have won
      legitimate starting jobs for their clubs something Lichaj has never done.

      Finally, right back is not a position of need. You could argue that Holden and Gooch if they suddenly blossom would be filling need positions. But at right back Dolo is the starter followed by Fabian/Chandler followed in no particular order by Fiscal, Cameron, Danny Williams, Brad Evans, and that’s before we get to the injured guys and the other MLS RB’s
      .
      When Lichaj moves, wins a starting job and then begins to impress people, then you can talk about “giving him a look”.

      Reply
  8. what an extremely weak batch of midfielders…we’re going to get tossed from the Gold Cup long before the final.

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    • Yeah I guess you were surprised Donovan and LA won back to back years…and Corona and TJ did so well…and a few guys getting serious playing time during qualifying.

      And you have a terrible midfield….or a troll trying to start a dumb debate.

      Reply

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