US coach Jurgen Klinsmann defended his decision to dump all-time American top scorer Landon Donovan from his World Cup squad, saying Friday the 32-year-old striker simply wasn't good enough.
"The other strikers we see that inch ahead of him," Klinsmann said. "We feel those guys are a little step ahead of Landon in certain areas. That's why we made that decision."
Former German star international and coach Klinsmann noted how Donovan's game has evolved as he has grown older with fewer 1-on-1 attacks and charges into the penalty area.
He reflected how players gain experience as they get older but "maybe physically they lose a little bit of an edge".
"He has done an amazing job the last 10 days he was here. He has done everything right," Klinsmann said. "It has been not easy. These are very close decisions. It's not a decision against a player, in this case Landon. It's a decision for another player.
"We coaches had the feeling over the last few days. We had an inkling a little bit. We sensed it was the right time now."
Klinsmann, whose US team opens in Brazil against Ghana on June 16, cut his squad on Thursday from 30 in training camp to the final 23-man lineup due to FIFA next month, saying he and his staff felt the timing was right and the selections were clear.
"It's a difficult situation for all of the players coming into a camp. It hangs like a cloud over the group for eight, nine, 10 days. If you wait it gets even heavier," he said. "It's a huge boost for everybody in the 23. We can start preparing for the details going into the match with Ghana."
Klinsmann said that if a US forward is hurt before the US roster is locked into place, he would call on Donovan, who has 57 international goals and sought a fourth World Cup appearance.
"If it's a striker, the first one that I call will be Landon Donovan," Klinsmann said.
"It's certainly one that catches everybody by surprise," US midfielder Michael Bradley said. "To see him hurting and upset that now he's not going to have another chance to go to the World Cup is certainly hard."
Donovan, who has 114 caps, made his only reaction on Facebook, saying, "I was looking forward to playing in Brazil and, as you can imagine, I am very disappointed."
