AJC Soccer Insider: Donovan cut, goes and sets MLS record

In his first press conference since being cut last week from the U.S. World Cup roster by coach Jurgen Klinsmann, Landon Donovan on Saturday said he thought he deserved make the 23-man roster for the World Cup.

Back with his club team and perhaps motivated to prove Klinsmann and others wrong, Donovan put in two goals on Sunday in the Galaxy's 4-1 win over Philadelphia to become the league's all-time leading scorer with 136 goals.

The first, in the 49th minute, broke the record set by Jeff Cunningham.

The two goals establish the good and bad of the laid-back Donovan: he has been one goal away from setting the record since October, but had been unable to put the ball in the net.

Snubbed by Klinsmann, he scores two in his first chance.

“It’s been an emotional three days. A lot of down and a lot of up honestly,” Donovan told a Time Warner Cable reporter. “The love I’ve received from everybody here, including when I walked out for warm-ups with signs and people staying stuff, has been amazing. And I’m really happy it ended this way for this week.”

Donovan could still played for the U.S. in Brazil. All it would take is an injury or withdrawal by a forward or midfielder for Klinsmann to make the addition.

How will they line up?

Now that the U.S. soccer nation has time to absorb the news that Donovan may not be with the U.S. team in the World Cup, who will Klinsmann pick for his starting 11 when his team takes the field against Ghana in a must-win game on June 16?

Here is the player pool:

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan, Tim Howard, Nick Rimando

Defenders: DaMarcus Beasley, Matt Besler, John Brooks, Geoff Cameron, Timmy Chandler, Omar Gonzalez, Fabian Johnson, DeAndre Yedlin

Midfielders: Kyle Beckerman, Alejandro Bedoya, Michael Bradley, Brad Davis, Mix Diskerud, Julian Green, Jermaine Jones, Graham Zusi

Forwards: Jozy Altidore, Clint Dempsey, Aron Johannsson, Chris Wondolowski.

Here is my projected lineup:

GK: Howard

Defenders: Chandler, Cameron, Besler, Johnson

Midfielders: Jones sitting back, Bradley in the middle, Dempsey up top in a hybrid midfielder/forward role, Zusi and Beasley wide. I know that Beasley has been converted to a fullback, but he was originally an attacking player. He and Johnson on the same side of the field will give opponents something to think about if they push too many men forward.

Forward: Altidore

I’m not sold on Zusi and think that Green could make the starting lineup for the same reason as Beasley: he is fast. When opposing wingers and fullbacks know they have a fast opponent across from them, they sometimes aren’t too keen on venturing too far up the field. That could relieve some pressure on the U.S. defense.

I also wouldn’t be surprised to see Altidore paired with Johannsson and supported by Dempsey. That decision would necessitate Jones being sacrificed. If that’s not ideal, Klinsmann could go with a three center-back formation in defense that is somewhat en vogue. If Beasley and Green are out wide, and Bradley in a defensive midfielder role, that should be enough men back to support that formation.

MLS in World Cup

Before some cuts were made, MLS put the eighth-most players onto World Cup rosters.

That’s not too shabby.

The league had 31 players on World Cup rosters, more than the Netherlands, Portugal or the underrated leagues in Brazil.

England, of course, led with 130 players, 30 more than the next best, Germany.

Interesting, Italy, from which teams did next to nothing in the Champions League, was third best with 96 players. That’s surprising considering that Juventus ran away with the Serie A title. That finish would seem to indicate a lack of depth and quality in the league.

Champions League

Rarely has one team spent so much money to win a trophy.

Real Madrid completed its 12-year quest to win its 10th Champions League title with a 4-1 win over rivals Atletico Madrid on Saturday in Lisbon.

Sergio Ramos tied the game at 1 with 90 seconds left on a brilliant header from a corner kick. From there, Atletico, repeatedly touted for its fitness and strength earlier in the game by commentators Gus Johnson and Eric Wynalda, simply ran out of steam and Madrid rolled in added extra time with goals from Gareth Bale, the most expensive player in the world, Marcelo and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Real Madrid has cycled through 10 managers between Vicente Del Bosque leading the team to its ninth Champions League title, and Carlo Ancelotti leading the team to “La Decima,” as it was nicknamed.

It has also spent hundreds of millions of dollars buying players to find the right combination.

The names are familiar to soccer fans: David Beckham, Michael Owen, Fabio Cannavaro, Ruud van Nistelroy, etc. were paid for but couldn’t win the big one.

Finally, Madrid spent $123 million to pry the super speedy Bale away from Tottenham Hotspur, and partner him with equally fast attackers Cristiano Ronaldo and Angel di Maria, who tortured Atletico on Saturday. It was di Maria's run through several defenders that led to Bale's decisive goal.

It will be interesting to see if Real Madrid breaks the bank in an attempt to defend the title, or if it will let the team settle and stand pat.

News of the weird

Bolivian President Evo Morales signed to play for Sports Boys, a team in his country last week. Morales has an interesting reputation from the time he was elected in 2005. Now, will any player dare to slide tackle him during a game? … Yaya Toure, a midfielder for Manchester City, and his older brother Kolo, a defender for Liverpool, are kind of weird dudes. Two years ago, Kolo was busted for having an alleged affair in which he pretended to be a used car salesman. Now, Yaya is apparently miffed at Manchester City because no one wished him a happy birthday last week. Yaya is the one player on City's roster that they can't afford to lose, so look for U-haul full of birthday gifts to arrive at his door any day.

Little help

The Silverbacks will host the Atlanta International Soccer Fest on June 7. Its mission is to benefit SOS Children’s Villages, a group dedicated to creating families for orphaned or abandoned children.

The festival will include a tournament for seven-on-seven teams that will play as many as three round-robin games. Click here to register.

Big game

The Silverbacks, 2-1 winners on Saturday in Edmonton, will play a big game at Chattanooga on Wednesday.

If Atlanta wins, it will host MLS squad Real Salt Lake in the next round of the U.S. Open Cup.

And no, they won’t sell this game back to Salt Lake.

Two years ago, the Silverbacks were supposed to host Seattle in the Cup. Instead, they sold the hosting rights to the Sounders.

The Silverbacks will keep this game against Real Salt Lake.

Denim jerseys

Remember the awful jerseys the U.S. wore in the 1994 World Cup? Slate has the story behind them.

Atlantans in MLS

How MLS players with ties to the metro Atlanta area did this week:

Joe Bendik, Toronto, GK, Kennesaw

Played 90 minutes and had three saves in team’s 2-2 draw with Sporting KC on Friday.

Next game: Will host Montreal in Canadian Championship on Wednesday and will host Columbus on Saturday.

Mark Bloom, Toronto, D, Marietta

Played 90 minutes in team’s 2-2 draw with Sporting KC on Friday.

Next game: Will host Montreal in Canadian Championship on Wednesday and will host Columbus on Saturday.

Alex Caskey, D.C. United, M, Dunwoody

Made the 18 but did not play in team’s 2-0 win over Houston on Wednesday.

Played 63 minutes and had one shot in team’s 2-1 loss to New England on Saturday.

Next game: Will host Sporting KC on Saturday.

Ricardo Clark, Houston, M, Jonesboro

Did not play in team’s 2-0 loss to D.C. United on Wednesday or 3-0 loss to San Jose on Sunday.

Next game: No game this week

Warren Creavalle, Houston, D, Acworth

Started and played 69 minutes in team’s 2-0 loss to D.C. United on Wednesday.

Started, played 59 minutes and had two shots on goal in team’s 3-0 loss to San Jose on Sunday.