Landon Donovan, the United States' all-time leading scorer, was left out of the 23-man squad named by Jurgen Klinsmann for the 2014 World Cup.
Los Angeles: Landon Donovan, the United States' all-time leading scorer, was left out of the 23-member squad named by Jurgen Klinsmann for the 2014 World Cup.
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Donovan, with 57 international goals, was among 30 taken into training camp but didn't make the final cut for what would have been a fourth World Cup.
The 32-year-old had insisted he wasn't a lock to make the squad for the finals in Brazil. He didn't figure prominently in the qualifying campaign, playing in just three of 10 matches in the final round after taking a nearly four-month sabbatical from the game. But once the veteran -- the face of football in the United States -- was included in the 30-man preliminary squad many fans were certain he'd be going to Brazil.
Klinsmann, who helped Germany win the 1990 World Cup as a player and coached Germany to the 2006 semi-finals, said it was one of the toughest coaching decisions of his career.
"To tell a player like him, with everything he's done and what he represents, to tell him 'you're not part of those 23 right now .'" Klinsmann said yesterday. "I just see some other players slightly ahead of him. "His disappointment is huge," Klinsmann added. "He took it very professionally because he is an outstanding professional player," he added. "But I had to make decisions as of today."
Klinsmann takes a relatively inexperienced squad for a World Cup campaign that sees the United States drawn in Group G along with Ghana, who reached the quarter-finals in the 2010 edition, Euro 2012 semi-finalists Portugal and one of the favorites for the trophy Germany. They will kick off their campaign on June 16 against Ghana.
Also left off the squad was midfielder Maurice Edu. In naming the 30-man squad, Klinsmann said he saw Donovan as a pure forward rather than a midfielder. The forwards selected include young playmaker Aron Johannsson and 31-year-old Major League Soccer veteran Chris Wondolowski. Johannsson scored 17 goals for Dutch club AZ Alkmaar last season, while Wondolowski was a hero of the US Gold Cup triumph last year with five goals in the first two matches.
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