TORRANCE, Calif. –During a near 20-minute conversation with reporters on Monday, U.S. national team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann confirmed that Landon Donovan is not expected to take part in the World Cup Qualifier against Honduras in San Pedro Sula on Feb. 6
Following the 2012 season, the LA Galaxy captain stated that he would take the offseason to evaluate his desire to continue to his storied professional career and was not called-up for the U.S.' January camp squad ahead of their match against Canada on Jan. 29 in Houston. During the interview on Monday, Klinsmann issued his support for Donovan, but admitted that the team needed to prepare for a demanding 2013.
“Landon decided to take a break at the moment and he wanted to consider all his options and what is next in his life so we said that he can take all the time in the world to decide what is next for him personally,” said Klinsmann. “That’s why he hasn’t been invited to this camp; we don’t have him in our sheet for Honduras because if you’re not part of this camp then you basically have no preparation for a World Cup qualifier.
“Like everyone else, we’re curious about what he comes up with and what he decides to do, it’s his life; he can say if he wants to continue or doesn’t want to continue or whatever he wants to decide because it’s his career,” Klinsmann added. “At the same time, we have to prepare for a World Cup Qualifier and we have to get the next group of players together in a short period of time so we move on with work. Whenever Landon decides to tell us what is next for him then it’s good for us.”
If Donovan does decide to call time on his career, then Klinsmann and U.S. Soccer admit that they must look to the future.
“First of all, I think Landon has achieved a tremendous amount of things in his career and he’s now at a time where he wants to think about everything and decide what is next for him. As a national team coach, you can’t stop for a certain point and look back; you have to constantly move on," said Klinsmann. “We have huge games ahead of us because 2013 will be a huge year for us. We have World Cup qualifiers, Gold Cup, prestigious friendlies and all of that so if a player decides his own personal situation then he has to do that but we have to move on. "
