There was a little "sport-media-hype" in Germany about that ( Jürgen Klinsmann is the US coach). Klinsmann's son dissed Landon Donovan on Twitter ( for whatever reason and whatever he has to do with it)
Landon Donovan took a sabbatical during the first stage of the CONCACAF qualifiers. Without him, the US team would have made it out easily still, but Klinsmann didn't take it that well and felt that Donovan was not committing enough to the team. By the second stage of the qualifiers where they were facing stronger teams like Mexico and Costa Rica, Klinsmann decided not to call Donovan at a time when his sabbatical was over. At some point he decided to call Donovan because he really felt like the team needed him, and he showed it on the field.
Personally, I think it's a terrible decision. Can Donovan run as fast and have as much endurance as he did 10 years ago? Perhaps not, because hardly you will ever see a player in his 30s be as physically fit as one in his 20s. That being said, the amount of skill, experience and leadership Donovan still holds to this day shows that he's still one of the most important players on the US team.
Klinsmann says that there are other players ahead of him. I would like to hear names because I don't see any.
Some people claim that Klinsmann feels like with Germany and Portugal he won't be able to make it out of the group, so he'd much rather let young players play, let them get some experience in hopes that they will do better in 2018 if the US qualifies for the World Cup in Russia.
Donovan most certainly could have been used off the bench, as well as being a great mentor.
Sadly, the big soccer news is Qatar. Constructing all those stadiums for 2022 has already resulted in hundreds of worker deaths, due to unsafe working and living conditions. Employers are refusing to hand over the passports/visas to those who want to leave. An expected 4,000 are expected to die if conditions remain the same.
except you overlook one thing ^^^
how many of the last dozen (or so) world cup hosts have actually been awarded on "bid merit" only?
seriously, look at some of them...there's definitely been some large sums of money changing hands
BEFORE each decision was made...Qatar's only real crime? - getting caught
My personal opinion of Landon Donovan is that his career went downhill after Kylie went on a direction of her own, and totally halted after Joseph & The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.
It won't matter much as the States won't do too well. Brazil will win, Argentina will be runner-up and Spain or Germany will finish third.
Professional sports and corruption have gone hand in hand since big money (through betting and otherwise) became involved. So pretty much since the Roman era.
^ That's bad news for the dutch fans - from now on the dutch players will be back at their typically arrogant behavior, and with that winning the cup is faaaaaaaar away.
That was one of the biggest upsets I've ever seen in football. It's not that I don't think Holland are capable of beating Spain, BUT 5-1?? Jeezus. Holland will now go on to lose to Chile and draw with Australia lol, they've peaked waaaaaaaay too soon.
i'm loving the "surprises" of this tournament.
was discussing this with a mate the other evening
and i suggested Uruguay (if they beat engerland) and chile
well chile look good for a bet...gottan love what they just did to the reigning european/world champs
(and this form someone who likes spain)