U.S. National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann announced his 23-man roster for the nation’s March World Cup Qualifiers against Costa Rica and Mexico, and while the names on the list drew plenty of attention, one name that was absent drew a mention as well.
Galaxy forward Landon Donovan was a topic for discussion during Klinsmann’s post-announcement teleconference. Donovan is currently taking a break from the game and is scheduled to return to the Galaxy sometime next week.
During the teleconference, Klinsmann revealed that he last spoke to Donovan in late-January, but admitted that Donovan's inclusion to the national team will depend on his fitness once he returns.
“Maybe he will become a part of our plans again, but it will depend on how he comes back and how I look at the whole picture and the development of this team,” said Klinsmann during a teleconference with reporters. “The door is always open as I said, but at the end of the day, I will make decisions based on what I think is best for this team going forward. And as of today, he’s not in the plans because simply, he’s not even playing or training.”
However, the U.S. national team boss was quick to reiterate that lines of communications between him and Donovan remain open.
“We’re always in touch. That’s no problem at all. We live in kind of the same neighborhood in the L.A. area so that should be no problem.”
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