2014 World Cup: Ghana's opponents USA name final 23-man roster, Landon Donovan dropped

Published on: 23 May 2014

Landon Donovan has been dropped from US squad

United States coach Jurgen Klinsmann has left all-time leading scorer Landon Donovan off his final roster for the World Cup.

Klinsmann surprisingly revealed his final 23-man roster on Thursday afternoon and sprung a massive surprise when he omitted Donovan from the squad.

"It has been an honor and privilege to have represented the US National Team in three World Cups," Donovan said on his official Facebook page late Thursday evening.

"I was looking forward to playing in Brazil, as you can imagine, I am very disappointed with today's decision."

Donovan had appeared poised to feature in his fourth consecutive World Cup after working his way back into Klinsmannâ€™s plans during the CONCACAF Gold Cup last summer, but Klinsmann hinted at the difficult road ahead last week when he suggested he saw Donovan as a forward, not a midfielder, as he unveiled his 30-man preliminary roster.

Klinsmann eventually opted to leave Donovan off his squad, with Jozy Altidore, Aron Johannsson and Chris Wondolowski all included in his place.

Donovan joined defenders Brad Evans, Clarence Goodson and Michael Parkhurst, midfielder Joe Corona and Maurice Edu and forward Terrence Boyd as the players to miss out.

The cuts ensured Klinsmann will take a youthful squad to the World Cup with John Anthony Brooks, Julian Green and DeAndre Yedlin all named in the final 23-man roster.

"It's an exciting moment when you have narrowed the roster down as a coaching staff, and these 23 players that you've chosen can focus now purely on Brazil," Klinsmann said.

"We can go into more specific things about technical approaches, and about the opponents. For the players, it's very important to know that they are now part of it and they can relax and know they are on the list going to Brazil and taking it from there. After almost 10 days of work right now, we thought the point has come to make the decision."

The United States men's national team will play three friendlies before their departure to Brazil.

The United States will host Azerbaijan at Candlestick Park in San Francisco on May 27.

Klinsmann's squad will then face Turkey on June 1 and Nigeria on June 7 at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida.

United States' 23-man World Cup roster:

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake).

Defenders: DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), John Brooks (Hertha Berlin), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Timmy Chandler (Nurnberg), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Fabian Johnson (Borussia MÃ¶nchengladbach), DeAndre Yedlin (Seattle Sounders FC).

Midfielders: Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Mix Diskerud (Rosenborg), Julian Green (Bayern Munich), Jermaine Jones (Besiktas), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City).

Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Sunderland), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC), Aron Johannsson (AZ Alkmaar), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes).

Comments

This article has 25 comment(s), give your comment

wee ba says:
May 23, 2014 10:09 pm
@waututo maddog u are a son of the cheapest whore,better pray for cursed nation u useless gay
A concerned citizen says:
May 23, 2014 10:38 am
Some coaches paa..Klinsman has shot himself in the foot.. He has goofed bid time for dropping this guy...He should have rewarded Donovan by including him for his immense contribution to the team previously[ experience]. What is new in the team before dropping him?
bien says:
May 23, 2014 11:15 am
@wuatoto maddog infact u r a dog indeed. i mean one wuthout brains which eats frm gutters and rubbish bins cos u tlk nothing but nonsense. what has hipc got to do with the world cup. u r a nuisance nd a waste of space. u r the kind of ppl who brings seperation to peace loving ppl cos u open your mouth to any radius of your choice and spit out any shit tnat comes frm it
Assemblyman says:
May 23, 2014 11:26 am
Looks like a very energetic squad.i hv followed them closely.so no surprise Donovan had been dropped.because his form these days is nothing to write home about .but he is better than Michael Essien in terms of consistency,match fitness and health.what Donovan and Essien have in common,they played in New Zealand 1999's U17 World Cup where Ghana trumphed the US to win third place.Donovan came out as a promising prospect as the player of the tournament. Sometimes Ghanaians don't like the truth.i think Michael Essien should be dropped.he hasn't been on top form in the past year till present.how many games has he played so far,2,3 or 4?well we all know this very well.i thought he should be in Ghana to start the preparation training here.it was to his advantage since he lacks match fitness and playing time in AC Milan .i don't even remember a game he played at AC Milan where they had won..absolute looses even as a substitute appearance.its just obvious the steam in the man is gone .maybe he better sit and plan how he is going to make some retirement monies in the MLS or those Arab leagues.the better days are gone for good.than going to a World Cup. One thing am more afraid of is the shallow minded Ghanaian insisting on using Essien against USA despite their athletism,the German well oil machine and the Portuguese flair and combativeness.well,I fear that we are going to loose the match from the midfield.Lets take the second match we had played against Egypt in Cairo.oh men! Essien and sulley in midfield ,we lost total control of the game till Essien was subbed .already we know sulley can't even run,then we pair him with a rusting tractor as Essien..how can rusting tractor work on a farm whiles it's engine isn't working ..that's how Essien has become . Back to the USA national team,it's surprised Julian Green made it ahead of those dropped players.even players like Maurice edu ,Joe corona ,etc had the experience.looking at things I guess we should stop this experience " nuisance " and take the right conditioned players there.for all I know,if we do not take care ,we could be the North Korea at the 2010 cup of South Africa in Brazil.once loosing the first match ,we can loose all...for all Donovan's experience and records for the US national team.he got dropped..it's not rewarding non performing players who have gone past their primes..this is a word to the wise!!
Anokwale says:
May 23, 2014 11:27 am
This is sort of like dropping Essien. It is news but in a practical sense he was there just for experience. He was no longer a key to attack.
ojugu says:
May 23, 2014 02:08 pm
Speed and energy alone do not win games. Ball sense, quality, pride, experience all count in soccer. And Ghana are better at these than the USA. Do you know something called SOAKING- BOOM? Ghana 3 USA 1
ojugu says:
May 23, 2014 02:04 pm
Wait till after the World Cup and you will see how stupid Klinsman is. Whatever you say about Essien he has proven that he deserves to be there. He came on against Zambia and the difference was clear. He played against Egypt and showed what he can do. What else do you want from a player. The World Cup is always a blend of youth and experience. Leadership counts in every team. Four years ago Stephen was there mostly for his leadership. In fact it only those who don't know much about soccer will call for Essien's drop. Then again they the ones who support Julian Green over Landon Donavan.
Bishop says:
May 23, 2014 05:42 pm
The cap are not the same . Let us support our own and believe in them , then they'll achieved impossible dream.
nana says:
May 23, 2014 04:30 pm
Guys is about time we talk about what we know, you guys talk too much! Donovan could not not even train like the young lads in the team , unlike Essien, stop fulfilling white man objective, how old is Andrea perlo of Italy. Did you watch gh vs Egypt, gh vs zambia, Montenegro vs Gh if not go watch n come back, Essien also brings stability go watch hockey or something
Bani man says:
May 24, 2014 02:24 am
@wuatoto whatever you call yourself, when you go to a soccer website, talk sense and stop being ignorant. I see millions of homeless guys, women, children and men all over the streets of USA. So, please be a sportsman, talk sports and talk sense. everyone knows how poor Africa is. so, shut the **** up.
Bani man says:
May 24, 2014 02:29 am
hahahah. @Jeremy, it's of course gonna be a nice game to watch. Can i bet you on this? History will repeat itself. Ghana 2-USA 1.
saviour says:
May 24, 2014 01:54 pm
USA should take note of this that God is a Ghanaian okay!!! We believe in God and He will see us through all our matches. Wherether USA like it or not Ghana will overcome them for the third time. In Jesus Name.
Wuatoto MaddDogg says:
May 23, 2014 10:22 am
says who you or GOD very funny over rated nation people
African Consciousness says:
May 23, 2014 10:09 am
In their last game against Mexico Donavan looked out of shape when he came on as a sub. His absence is good news for Ghana.
Wuatoto MaddDogg says:
May 23, 2014 10:20 am
And your Black muthafuckin' ass will know the' name wha'll save the USA on 06/16 when we humbly school you over rated HIPC Poor food beggin' nation Kwasia
FelixOj says:
May 24, 2014 05:02 am
@ waututo maddog...somebody tell that fool to claim his real stupid shameful country because we all know u ain't American u piece of shitty son of a whore...trying so hard to claim u r American u dumb bitch...
PeeWee says:
May 23, 2014 07:29 am
I think he was dropped because he had become big headed, and thought he was bigger than the team. Unlike African countries, these Western and European nations don't beg, and kiss players' asses.
Ghanaman says:
May 23, 2014 07:44 am
If only life was easy. Those players are not a threat to Ghana. Ghana 8-0 USA
Kwaku says:
May 23, 2014 08:21 am
I judge teams by the clubs they play but this time USA is no match.
21guns says:
May 23, 2014 05:30 am
The Donut or Donovan is one of the experience players in the usa team, The dropping of Donovan is a bad news for usa, he is a versatile experience player. U wonder what player will save usa this time. Ghana 4 usa 1
Stanford says:
May 23, 2014 05:51 am
I'm sori US u just dug your own grave
Jeremy says:
May 23, 2014 07:01 am
This side is designed not for the world cup, but 1 game- Ghana. It is full of speed and ferocity. For 90 minutes Ghana will be attacked in a barrage. If they think it's going to be like the other 2 times, they're sadly mistaken. All US needs to be worried about is Gyan diving in the box. He is better than a hollywood actor. USA 4 Ghana 0. Black Stars won't know what hit them.
Ghanaman says:
May 23, 2014 07:46 am
You don't know a think. Kurasini.
Benito says:
May 23, 2014 01:15 pm
Whether form,fitness,experience etc,it will come to manifestation on June 16.people easily forget that football is very unpredictable.let's wait and see how it goes.
Tosh says:
May 23, 2014 08:33 pm
Donovan was dropped to allow a more enterprising player ,just know that Klinsman has bn around.