Seattle Sounders forward Eddie Johnson and midfielder/defender Brad Evans were called in Monday for duty in the U.S. national team’s friendly Wednesday at Bosnia-Herzegovina.
However, USA coach Jurgen Klinsmann did not call in national team captain and new Sounder designated player Clint Dempsey.
“For the most part we wanted to leave the MLS players behind because it’s a long way to go for a mid-week game in the heart of the season, and many of them were with us a lot during the summer,” Klinsmann said in an interview on the U.S. Soccer website. “… I told (Sounders coach) Sigi Schmid that it’s no problem to leave Clint off this roster. It’s been a long week for Clint, and he is still in preseason and getting a rhythm. So we leave him in Seattle and get him ready for the (World Cup qualification) games in September.”
Still, in Johnson and Evans he called a pair of Sounders he had used regularly during World Cup qualifying.
The game and travel could affect Evans’ availability for the Sounders’ MLS match Saturday at Houston. However, Johnson was already ineligible for that match while serving a one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation.
Here are the remainder of the players called in: goalkeepers Cody Cropper (Southampton), Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton); defenders John Anthony Brooks (Hertha Berlin), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Edgar Castillo (Club Tijuana), Michael Parkhurst (Augsburg), Tim Ream (Bolton Wanderers). Midfielders Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes), Michael Bradley (Roma), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), Mix Diskerud (Rosenborg), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim), Jermaine Jones (Schalke), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht), Danny Williams (Reading); and forward Jozy Altidore (Sunderland), Terrence Boyd (Rapid Vienna), Aron Johannsson (AZ Alkmaar), Bobby Wood (1860 Munich).
Defender Michael Orozco Fiscal, who was originally listed on the 23-man roster, withdrew after suffering an ankle injury. No replacement will be added.
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