CARSON, Calif. – Omar Gonzalez will not be heading out on international duty with the U.S. National Team, but could the LA Galaxy get Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane back before next Wednesday’s game against the Montreal Impact?
“It's possible” says Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena.
Gonzalez has already withdrawn from U.S. duty with a hip injury, but following training on Tuesday, the Galaxy boss stated that the club has communicated with the national teams of Ireland (Robbie Keane) and the U.S. (Landon Donovan) about having the players return in time for Montreal.
“They're well aware of the fact that we'd like to bring the players back,” Arena said, who reiterated that the decision is in the hands of their respective national team coaches. “We've been in contact. We know what we're doing there. We didn't make a decision, but we in a timely fashion have requested to see if the players could return.”
Donovan indicated following Sunday’s 5-0 victory over Chivas USA that he’d like to help out the Galaxy next Wednesday while Robbie Keane downplayed any return “as far as I'm concerned, I'm going to play for my country, and that's it.”
Meanwhile, in an interview with LA Galaxy Insider after the SuperClasico, Jaime Penedo also indicated that he was unlikely to return due to the importance of the October World Cup qualifiers to Panama’s hopes of reaching Brazil next year.
As for Gonzalez's status for Montreal, Arena stated that there was no update on his status, but said that the team will "just see how he responds."
