Donovan, who is going to play in the MLS Cup with the Galaxy in less than two weeks, said that preparation for the final is his reason for not playing against France. Right now, the United States has recorded only one win during Jurgen Klinsmann's time in charge of the squad, scoring only two goals in the process. Of course, some people will think that this is bad news for a struggling national team that has not looked formidable since the World Cup.
This friendly against France could go a long way in determining how the national team will perform in the next several months. For Donovan, this move will be extremely beneficial because he will now be able to fully focus on winning the MLS Cup in what is probably David Beckham 's last year in the league. Of course, it would be pointless for Donovan to travel nine timezones to play against France before heading back to Los Angeles to play in the final. Since Klinsmann has taken over national team duties, Donovan has had a much smaller role than usual.
The recent Anthony Precourt acquisition of the club has come at a time when the original stadium has begun to look a little shabby — in some ways reflecting the indifferent onfield fortunes of one of the MLS originals. Precourt believes the Ohio sports market is ripe for the club to thrive and has vowed improvements, but Saturday's loss to a ten man Seattle and every team above them in the East picking up at least a point, means that Columbus may be joining the also-rans of Toronto and DC United sooner rather than later this season, and any improvements may be deferred until at least the off-season.
Schmid on the other hand finds himself helming a side who have finally started their charge up the Western table in earnest. They're eight points behind Supporters Shield leaders Real Salt Lake, but two wins and two draws from their four games in hand would draw them level — hardly daunting. They came to Columbus fresh off 67, watching them beat Portland last week , and with their fans having earned an endorsement from US Soccer to help organize and rally the US support for the vital qualifier against Mexico Add in Schmid's trio of designated players in Rosales, Martins and of course Dempsey and when we talk about him returning to Columbus, we're also talking about him arriving with an embarrassment of riches.
Yet there was also some embarrassment from those riches when Eddie Johnson, the former Fulham man who is conspicuously not a designated player, scored the only goal of the game. Johnson, who has watched the recent expensive arrivals at the club with interest, while continuing to be the Sounders main threat in front of goal, jogged to the touchline camera miming rubbing a billfold and mouthing "Pay me" repeatedly.
Johnson wants a new contract and has noted that Seattle are prepared to splash the cash for the right man. Seattle of course are famously maxed out on DPs — Shalrie Joseph's contract had to be re-negotiated in order to land Dempsey and while Rosales looks to be the most vulnerable given a slight drop off in productivity this year, he's still capable of the type of dead balls to Johnson that brought the winners against Portland and now Columbus.
If Johnson keeps scoring and keeps demanding though, it's a potential headache for Schmid and majority owner Joe Roth. Columbus fans watching their teams fall to a fifth defeat in seven games, and with their own DP weapon Higuain sidelined through suspension, will have little sympathy.
To them their former coach's looming dilemma looks like what it is — a luxury problem. It says a lot about a player's stature when a teammate's double can't steal his thunder, though to Robbie Keane's credit, he came close. The Galaxy captain's two goals and an assist in Saturday's win over San Jose was preeminent in the post match reports, but when looking back on the week that was in Southern California soccer, it will still be Landon Donovan's week.
To his credit, Donovan did contribute on the field, a nicely finished opener on a breakaway served by Keane, but the major news came away from the pitch. On Wednesday, Donovan extended his contract with LA, a multi-year deal that ended mounting if muted speculation he'd take another crack overseas.
On Thursday, Donovan's big week was capped by a recall to the U. After a brilliant Gold Cup, the recall was expected. And to a certain extent, the contract extension was, too, though given the mercurial nature of Donovan's , a move away from MLS wasn't completely out of the question. Recent statements that he was more open to other offers fueled talk he might leave.
He recently signed a contract extension to , and is entrusted with structuring the technical development of the game in this country from the earliest youth level onward. All of the above players might expect to be mainstays of the national team by — and the prospect of that group traveling to Russia that year, with World Cup experience already under their belt, is an attractive one.
In the end, Donovan may have scored more World Cup goals than any other U. The irony is that, in doing so, even from his entrenched position of power, the U. Far from dropping the player for good, Klinsmann may yet find he has inextricably linked himself with Donovan for the rest of his reign.
It's also one fewer than Donovan's career assist tally, 58, which is 36 more setups than Hall of Fame midfielder Cobi Jones had in his lengthy career. The only major benchmarks where Donovan isn't tops are shutouts, a statistic designated for goalkeepers and defenders, and caps, or game appearances, a stat in which Jones leads Donovan It's simple math, which is why, to fans casual and ardent, coach Jurgen Klinsmann's decision to leave the orchestrator of goals off the player World Cup roster doesn't add up.
The sports world expressed outrage at Thursday's announcement -- and not your typical ho-hum soccer outrage they flop! More Videos Klinsmann explains why he cut Donovan Donovan descartado del Mundial Patrick Vieira tackles Senegal education Patrick Vieira: How to win a World Cup Americans, many of them thoughtfully, questioned a personnel decision, like they might question the Philadelphia Eagles not re-signing Mike Vick.
But this is soccer, and American soccer at that. So if Klinsmann is honest in saying that his goal is to raise soccer's profile in the United States, snubbing Donovan seems to have done the trick. Now come the questions, the doubts, the Monday-morning goalkeepers. While some speculated whether Donovan's age 32 or perceived lack of heart -- he said in he wasn't sure if he wanted to go to Brazil and last year went on sabbatical during an arduous World Cup qualifying campaign -- others simply denounced the decision.
Not everyone was so diplomatic, as some folks resorted to calling the move shortsighted or the machination of a madman.
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