Landon Donovan is not on the 23-man United States men's national team roster for the World Cup in Brazil.
It's a shocking decision.
Donovan has not been in good form for the LA Galaxy, but everyone expected manager Jurgen Klinsmann to bring him to Brazil anyway. He had been training with the team at their pre-World Cup camp in Palo Alto.
Donovan, the face of American soccer for the past decade, has played his last World Cup game.
Here's the 23-man World Cup roster (more below):
Forwards: Jozy Altidore, Aron Johannson, Chris Wondolowski, Clint Dempsey
Midfielders: Kyle Beckerman, Alejandro Bedoya, Michael Bradley, Brad Davis, Mix Diskerud, Julian Green, Jermaine Jones, Graham Zusi
Defenders: DaMarcus Beasley, Matt Besler, John Brooks, Geoff Cameron, Timmy Chandler, Omar Gonzalez, Fabian Johnson, DeAndre Yedlin
Goalies: Tim Howard, Brad Guzan, Nick Rimando
Zusi has taken over Donovan's position in right midfielder in the past few years. Even if Landon made the final 23, he most likely would have been coming off the bench.
Still, the inclusions of Green (an 18-year-old with virtually no top-flight experience), Davis (a veteran winger with little top-level international experience), and Diskerud (a creative but untested young player) over Donovan are a surprise.
You have to think Klinsmann is building for the future here.
Maurice Edu, Brad Evans, Clarence Goodson, Joe Corona, and Terrance Boyd were also cut from the preliminary 30-man roster.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7o8HSoqWeq6Oeu7S1w56pZ5ufonytrc2dpqdllKS7sMLAp2Swp6KhsW6v1Klka2hhaXp2