Clint Dempsey dropped from USA squad for World Cup qualifiers

By Kyle McCarthy
Published

United States coach Jurgen Klinsmann has dropped Clint Dempsey ahead of the World Cup qualifiers against St. Vincent & the Grenadines and Trinidad & Tobago.

Klinsmann left Seattle Sounders forward Dempsey off his 23-man roster after starting him in the defeat to Mexico in the CONCACAF Cup last month, but he retained Fabian Johnson after sending him home ahead of the friendly against Costa Rica and selected New York Red Bulls defender Matt Miazga and Portland Timbers midfielder Darlington Nagbe for the first time.

The decision to drop Dempsey stems from a desire to look at other options up front, according to Klinsmann.

“At this point in time, I want to give the younger strikers a chance to prove themselves and this is a good stage to do it,” Klinsmann told ussoccer.com. “I communicated with Clint about it and it’s all fine.”

Klinsmann included Jordan Morris and Bobby Wood in the squad to bolster his forward options in Dempsey’s stead, while veteran Alan Gordon also returned to the side.

Those choices -- plus the inclusions of Miazga and Nagbe and the return of Club León midfielder Miguel Ibarra -- reflect a desire to alter the calculus after a different summer, but Klinsmann also summoned familiar faces like Kyle Beckerman, Matt Besler and Geoff Cameron to bolster the qualifying efforts. Alejandro Bedoya (recovering from illness), Brad Evans (hamstring) and Nick Rimando (knee surgery) all miss out through injury.

Johnson also kept his place in the team after he drew scrutiny for his late withdrawal against Mexico. Klinsmann rebuked him publicly in the wake of that substitution and sent him home ahead of the defeat to the Ticos, but Johnson stayed in the reckoning and took his place in the squad nevertheless.

The players are expected to gather in Miami starting on Sunday ahead of the opening qualifier against St. Vincent in St. Louis on Friday. The group will then travel to Port of Spain ahead of the second match against Trinidad & Tobago on Nov. 17.

“With St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago, they’re two nations that are not taken lightly,” Klinsmann said. “They are good teams. T&T proved it in the previous Gold Cup. With St. Vincent and the Grenadines, we have a team that is an unknown, but we watch their previous games and make ourselves familiar with their players. At the end of the day you still don’t really know what to expect, so it’s going to be very interesting.”

United States roster to face St. Vincent & the Grenadines and Trinidad & Tobago

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Tim Howard (Everton)

Defenders: Ventura Alvarado (Club América), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Matt Miazga (New York Red Bulls), Michael Orozco (Club Tijuana), Tim Ream (Fulham FC), Brek Shea (Orlando City SC)

Midfielders: Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Mix Diskerud (New York City FC), Miguel Ibarra (Club Leon), Jermaine Jones (New England Revolution), Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers), DeAndre Yedlin (Sunderland)

Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Alan Gordon (LA Galaxy), Jordan Morris (Stanford), Bobby Wood (Union Berlin), Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy)