Jurgen Klinsmann announced the final 23-man roster that will be going to the World Cup a few days ago, and conspicuous by his absence was LA Galaxy star Landon Donovan. Donovan is arguably the greatest American soccer player ever. He is the all-time leading goal scorer in USA soccer history with 57 goals, 21 more than Clint Dempsey who is second on the list. Donovan also leads in all-time assists with 58, 36 more than any other American ever. He needs only 8 more appearances to take over for Cobi Jones as the most-capped player in USA soccer history, and is still in his prime at 32 years old. So what gives?
It’s obvious that past performance is not what a coach looks at to decide who makes this year’s team – and Donovan is not exactly having a banner season for LA. He has scored a whopping zero goals so far this year. Nonetheless, this is the equivalent of leaving LeBron off the national basketball team because he got off to a slow start this season. I’m not saying Donovan should make it on past merit alone, but his accomplishments are so staggering – so far and above what any other USA player has ever done – that most assumed he would be a lock to make the team. Is he the best player on the squad today? Probably not, but he is no worse than the fourth-best player in the country. Consider his natural talent combined with his experience, and his skill-set dwarfs what any other player not named Dempsey or Bradley brings to the table.
For the world super-powers of the game (Spain, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, England, Portugal, Belgium, France, Brazil, Argentina) their squads are full of Donovans, and not every one of them can make it. Those teams always have notable snubs, similar to an All-Star team in any American sport – because those nations are basically all-star teams. Most of the other countries (USA included) are like any other squad, they have a group of superstar/elite-level players and then the rest of the roster is filled out with good, solid footballers. On these teams, the group of Donovans are usually a lock to make the squad, and furthermore viewed as a given nation’s only hope of competing with the big boys. It would be a common analysis to say “the USA has a chance if Dempsey and Donovan play at their best.”
The rift began in 2012, right before the US was about to embark on the first round of World Cup Qualifiers. Donovan asked off the team, citing that he was burnt-out from playing professionally since the age of 17, and needed to “get in the right place mentally.” Klinsmann told him “if you take a break like that then you have to fight your way back into the picture, and you have to confirm it with week-in, week-out performances in your club team…(and)…in the national team environment.”
Imagine you’re the new coach of a national soccer team and your best player says he can’t play because he’s depressed. I’m not making light of people who have to deal with depression because it undoubtably must be awful. But in professional sports players are expected to play through injuries and get on the field no matter what. They are also expected to take advantage of the finite amount of time you have in your youth and appreciate how lucky you are to play for your country. There are players who would gleefully play on a broken leg for a chance to represent their homeland in a World Cup, and Donovan was asking for a sabbatical for personal reasons. Therefore it should be no surprise if Klinsmann left him off the team – for personal reasons.
In my humble opinion, if you don’t feel like going through the grind of qualifiers with your countrymen, you don’t deserve to benefit from the fruits of their labor. Yes – there are a number of young players who made team despite having not contributed in qualifiers, but those are players the coach has deemed to be in superb form right now, which Donovan (zero goals this season plus criticized by Klinsmann for not being in tip-top shape) is not.
Donovan was given a fair shot. He was invited to camp but didn’t make the cut. Some will say it was just a charade, that Klinsmann was never going to select him but knew he had to at least name him to the provisional roster. I think that’s bull – Klinsmann like any other coach is going to give his team the best chance to win by taking the best players. Did Donovan’s time away from the team play into the coach’s decision? Of course it did, Klinsmann thought Donovan would be his star, his captain, his team leader – but instead the all-time greatest US soccer player ever opted to go on a sabbatical during World Cup Qualifiers. Who needs a “teammate” like that?
Article By: Anthony Schiano
