Landon Donovan left off U.S. squad

[Renew Deal]

Landon Donovan has been left off the United States' final 23-man squad for the World Cup.

Defenders Michael Parkhurst, Brad Evans, and Clarence Goodson; midfielders Joe Corona and Maurice Edu; and forward Terrence Boyd also missed the cut for the team that will play in Brazil.

U.S. Soccer announced the squad on Twitter on Thursday.

Donovan, 32, has played for the U.S. in the past three World Cups dating back to 2002. He has been the face of the national team for most of the past decade, but spoke in recent months about how his body is no longer what it had once been.
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http://www.espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1830254/landon-donovan-maurice-edu-left-world-cup-squad

[KamaAina]

1. Ugh.

Okay, maybe he's on the downside of his career, but with all those caps, you have to have him there to mentor the younger guys, and maybe to sub in at a time when we really need one.

[ProfessorGAC]

2. That All Being True. . .

. . .it's also not realistic that the US is going to win the WC. So why not let the guy have his last moment instead of being so serious that he gets left off the list of 23 for a team that isn't going to win.

[KamaAina]

3. I hadn't even thought of that.

And it seems to be all because Klinsi has a grudge against him.

http://soccer.si.com/2014/05/22/landon-donovan-jurgen-klinsmann-world-cup-usa-roster-gamble/

Ultimately, Donovan didn’t meet expectations and returned to MLS at the end of his loan. Bayern officials wondered why Klinsmann had put so much trust in Donovan when the manager’s own job was on the line. Klinsmann was out at Bayern a few months later, and truth be told, he never entrusted his full faith in Donovan again.

The process culminated in Klinsmann cutting Donovan from the U.S. World Cup squad on Thursday, effectively ending Donovan’s sterling 14-year national team career at age 32. Donovan produced some remarkable international numbers—156 caps, five goals in three World Cups, a U.S.-record 57 goals overall—but Klinsmann never appeared fully comfortable with a player whose occasionally flagging will undoubtedly frustrated the World Cup-winning German.

Part of the conflict was Donovan’s fault. In early 2013, he took a three-month sabbatical from the sport, removing himself from contention for a World Cup qualifier when his teammates needed him. (The U.S. ended up losing that game in Honduras.) Donovan spent a week finding himself in Cambodia. He spoke candidly—sometimes too candidly for his own good—of finding it difficult to motivate himself to train hard every day....

But then there were warning signs: Klinsmann yanking Donovan at halftime of a qualifier against Jamaica last October; Klinsmann benching Donovan for the U.S.-Mexico friendly last month, saying he hadn’t trained well; and then Klinsmann telling ESPN that Donovan was “untouchable” among the U.S. soccer media, a sacred cow, when in reality that was not the case.

That is not very good coaching.