Jurgen Klinsmann Risks Job by Snubbing Landon Donovan

You could feel the U.S. soccer world reverberate as the announcement came down Thursday that all-time leading scorer Landon Donovan had been left off the 2014 World Cup roster.

U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann decided to leave off the U.S.'s second-most capped player in history and veteran of three world cups in exchange for a group of younglings, including 18-year-old Bayern Munich product Julian Green.

The seeds of this move were sown back in December 2013 when Donovan decided to take a self-imposed sabbatical from international play and his Team USA duties, then citing physical and mental fatigue at age 30. The move reportedly did not sit well with the former World Cup champion and newly hired German coach.

Donovan attempted to earn his way back to the national team and appeared to have done so by featuring in the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup and numerous World Cup qualifying matches. As the announcement of the final squad headed to Brazil neared, it appeared Donovan was a lock, if not for his skill but at minimum his vast experience on the international stage. Donovan's five World Cup goals rank him first among U.S. players. He is also the scorer of arguably the most famous goal in U.S. soccer history, a go-ahead goal against Algeria in the 2010 World Cup to send the U.S. to the Round of 16.

Without saying a word, Klinsmann has definitively declared who is most important member of the U.S soccer contingent headed to Brazil in June: himself. In doing so, Klinsmann has also put his job on the line. With Donovan in tow, the U.S. would have been forgiven for succumbing to the 2014 Group of Death, where they will face Ghana (which eliminated the U.S. from the World Cup in 2006 and 2010) Portugal (the team that features reigning FIFA Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo) and Germany (considered among favorites to win the tournament).

Without Donovan, the pressure will fall squarely on the shoulders of Klinsmann as well as any flack for the red, white and blue's performance. Considering the depth a 23-man roster provides, it's a confounding decision from the German. Even if he feels that Donovan is not an ideal fit for his starting 11, there’s no question the LA Galaxy forward would bring leadership and cunning to an incredibly green roster. It also would have provided Klinsmann a valid excuse in defeat: "I brought the best players the U.S. has to offer. What else could I have done?" Now naysayers can easily point to Donovan's exclusion as a miscalculation should the U.S. stumble.

But alas, youth this is exactly why Klinsmann has chosen to leave Donovan at home. Klinsmann's actual motives lay not with winning in Brazil, but rather in Russia in 2018. It’s likely that Klinsmann needed to guarantee World Cup roster spots to German-American dual citizens Green and 21-year-old John Anthony Brooks to ensure they switched permanently with FIFA from German nationality to American. Both starlets project to be world-beaters should they remain on their current trajectory. And again, given the U.S.'s incredibly harsh schedule, a short trip to South America is to be expected. Klinsmann is thinking long term.

The move is akin to acquiring young prospects to be cornerstones of a franchise down the line – a la Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano for the Minnesota Twins. But long-term moves draw the ire from near-sighted fanbases as those at Target Field are well aware. The chess play may pay off for Klinsmann, but first he'll have to survive the Donovan backlash and the impending postmortem of the 2014 World Cup.