USMNT’s Matt Besler: Landon Donovan addressed the team after learning he didn’t make the final World Cup roster
By Mike Dyce
Arguably the United States best soccer player in history is being left at home this summer, and won’t be attending the 2014 World Cup. Head coach Jurgen Klinsmann made the tough decision to leave him off the team. Klinsmann tried to explain the decision behind not including Donovan.
“It is a very tight race for those spots, and at this moment, we feel like the other players, without naming any of those guys, are a tiny bit ahead of him,” Klinsmann said. “That’s why we made that decision, which is obviously and understandably the biggest topic out here.”
“We read everything. Where he maybe is not the one to go one against one all the time and go into the box, he brings other values to the table – his outstanding passing game, his experience, which is a big factor always, and other elements. He’s changed his game over the past four years, which is normal at this stage of his career. Those things, we coaches discuss. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the other guys that we have and then we have to make a decision. He has done an amazing job in the last 10 days he was here, and has done everything right, like all of the guys did. They all had strong cases. With every player yesterday to kind of go through those couple minutes, it’s been not easy. It’s just part of the process.”
The soccer star has released a statement on Facebook on the decision:
"To my fans,It has been an honor and privilege to have represented the US National Team in three World Cups. I was looking forward to playing in Brazil and, as you can imagine, I am very disappointed with today’s decision. Regardless, I will be cheering on my friends and teammates this summer, and I remain committed to helping grow soccer in the US in the years to come.Thanks for all your support,Landon"
And before the decision was announced to the country, Donovan addressed his teammates according to Matt Besler. Just another sign of professionalism for a man who has had a tremendous career for his national team.