I deserved to be in Brazil - Donovan
| Monday May 26, 2014 11:14
“I thought if I was only judged on what happened in camp, I deserved to be in Brazil,” said Donovan, while preparing for the Los Angeles Galaxy’s yesterday Major League Soccer game against the Philadelphia Union. “It’s disappointing.”
At a Friday press conference, Klinsmann said: “As a coach, you have to make a decision based on what you want to execute in Brazil, what you want to see, how do you want to build those components into the entire group. “And then I felt - we coaches felt - the guys that we chose, they’re a little step ahead of Landon in certain areas.”
Donovan, 32 and a former Everton and Bayern Munich forward, said that though he disagreed with Klinsmann’s contention that other players were ahead of him, he would gladly return to the squad if injuries created an opening. Klinsmann’s decision, which was announced on Thursday, caused controversy. On Friday the coach told his son, Jonathan, a USA Under-18 goalkeeper, to apologise for a tweet which mocked Donovan’s failure to make the squad. Donovan, who has 156 caps and a record 57 goals, played at the 2002, 2006 and 2010 World Cup finals, scoring five times. In 2012, citing tiredness, he stepped away from the international game, a decision which meant he missed a key World Cup qualifying match. Though Donovan returned to the national team his relationship with Klinsmann was already believed to be strained, after their brief time together at Bayern. After talking to media on Saturday, Donovan said he would not discuss the situation further. (The Guardian)