CHICAGO - Landon Donovan was left off the 29-man U.S. roster for a training camp ahead of a trio of World Cup qualifiers next month. But American coach Jurgen Klinsmann anticipates he will rejoin the team at some unspecified point.
Donovan, a 31-year-old midfielder who played for the last three U.S. World Cup teams, took a sabbatical of nearly four months after last season, returning to the field with the Los Angeles Galaxy on March 30.
"I think Landon is catching up," Klinsmann said. "We're all excited that he has decided to continue to play. That was the first major answer that we needed to get, and now he's just working himself back into shape and back into a playing rhythm. He will get sharper and more confident with every game he's going to play now. So we'll watch that, we'll monitor that and we'll decide then when to bring him back into our picture."
"It's not going to be for these upcoming games," Klinsmann added, "but maybe later on we'll definitely expect him back in the team."