Members of the US men's national team to the World Cup expressed sympathy to former teammate Landon Donovan, but reserved their thoughts on whether Jurgen Klinsmann made a mistake in dropping the US' all-time leading scorer from the squad saying they are focused on making a good showing in the Brazil games.
Midfielder Michael Bradley expressed a lot of respect and appreciation for the contributions of Donovan to the squad, and to the sport of soccer in the United States, but said the team is just focused on training hard for the World Cup. He told SI.com: "But at this point there are 23 guys in there ready to go to the World Cup and forget about everything else and make this something special. That is what we are talking about and what you should be talking about."
He also shot down speculations that the absence of Donovan could cause distraction in the team, adding that every guy in the squad is excited, committed, and ready for the national cause. He added: "When certain decisions get made, certain things are easy to say and write and talk about, but one of the strengths of this team is to shut that door and on the inside have a group that is ready and committed."
Goalie Tim Howard was also mum on whether Klinsmann was wrong in not including Donovan to the roster. He said he trusted their manager's decision, saying: "He obviously has a vision for the team that he thinks is a winning one and so we believe in that."
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