Oscar Sorto and Gyasi Zardes will be the LA Galaxy's representatives at the U.S. National Team's annual January camp, but there was one notable omission: USMNT defensive mainstay Omar Gonzalez.
Although there was some initial worry from the Twitterverse about why Gonzalez had been dropped, U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann told U.S. Soccer's official website that a nagging injury prevented the LA Galaxy defender from being included in the squad.
"When you put together the roster for January Camp, you eventually talk to the players, you talk to their club coaches and everyone is in a bit of a different situation," Klinsmann said. "The season here has a different schedule than overseas or in Mexico, and here and there you run into issues with players that you think it’s better if they maybe keep on curing some injuries, like in the case of Omar Gonzalez or Graham Zusi. They are not fully fit yet, so we decided to say ‘take it easy going into pre-season of your club team’."
UPDATE: Fox Soccer's Alexi Lalas provided an update on Gonzalez via Twitter saying that he is undergoing "proactive knee maintenance"
Gonzalez enjoyed a strong year for the U.S. in 2014 as he appeared in his first FIFA World Cup while also making eight appearances for Klinsmann's side.
