STANFORD, Calif. -- Jurgen Klinsmann tried to dance around the questions: Why take unproven youngsters to the World Cup and leave Landon Donovan home? A day after announcing his momentous decision to drop the most accomplished player in American mens soccer, the U.S. coach hinted at answers without ever saying specifically why Donovan was among the final seven cuts. "As a coach, you have to make a decision based on what you want to execute in Brazil, what you want to see, how do you want to build those components into the entire group. And then I felt -- we coaches felt -- the guys that we chose, theyre a little step ahead of Landon in certain areas," Klinsmann said Friday. The 32-year-old Donovan, the American record holder with 57 international goals and second with 156 appearances, was trying to make his fourth World Cup roster. He is scoreless in seven games with the Los Angeles Galaxy this season, and Klinsmann dropped him from the roster for the first half of 2013 after Donovan took a four-month sabbatical. Asked for specifics, Klinsmann said Donovan "maybe is not the one now anymore to go one against one all the time or going into the box or finishing off." But the coach praised "his outstanding passing game, his experience, which is a big factor always." "He changed his game over the last few years, which is normal at that stage of his career," Klinsmann said. Donovan has five World Cup goals, including a stoppage-time score against Algeria four years ago that advanced the Americans to the second round. "We all have an incredible amount of respect and appreciation and admiration for everything that Landon has done for this team and for soccer in this country," said Toronto FCs Michael Bradley. "To see him walk out the door yesterday, to see six other guys walk out the door yesterday, is not easy." Klinsmann said Donovan took the decision Thursday "with an amazing composure." "Obviously, big disappointment. That is expected, and he said that, he doesnt kind of understand it," Klinsmann said. "He thinks he should have been in the 23." Donovan was scheduled to discuss the decision Saturday after training with the Galaxy. "Just sad for all the guys who got cut and what comes with it," U.S. captain Clint Dempsey said. "You bring in 30 players who have a lot of quality and it makes difficult decisions for the coaches to make." Klinsmann said he hopes Donovan remains in the player pool in the future: The Americans have the CONCACAF Gold Cup next year and the Copa America in 2016, when qualifying for the next World Cup also starts. Donovan also could return for the World Cup if there is an injury to one of the players selected for the roster. "How this new cycle will start after Brazil obviously depends a lot on the outcome in Brazil," Klinsmann said, "but the vision is, absolutely, that Landon continues his national team career." A World Cup champion with West Germany and European champion with Germany, Klinsmann was hired in July 2011. Less than a week after the Americans were drawn in December into a difficult World Cup group with Ghana, Portugal and Germany, the U.S. Soccer Federation announced Klinsmanns contract had been extended through 2018. He maintained the new deal didnt make him think more toward the future when making his picks. "This is based on today. This is based on what hopefully goes well the next seven, eight weeks, so that had nothing to do with my contract or with the perspective that those young players have for the longer run," he said. His roster includes 18-year-old winger Julian Green, who made his national team debut last month and has just six minutes of first-team experience with Bayern Munich; 21-year-old central defender Anthony Brooks, who has three international appearances; and 20-year-old right back DeAndre Yedlin, whose only national team appearances were as a second-half substitute this year. "Some have a learning curve ahead of them, theres no doubt about it," Klinsmann said. "But they are ready for that learning curve, and they might surprise some people out there." Since returning to the World Cup in 1990 after a 40-year absence, the U.S. has alternated first-round elimination with advancement. The Americans open against Ghana, which knocked them out in the group stage in 2006 and the second round last time. "As of today Im very strongly convinced this is the right way to go for it," Klinsmann said. "Now time will tell. If Im not getting the job done at the end of the day, you know the outcome of things in the soccer world." Jamison Crowder Jersey . -- Canadas Milos Raonic defeated Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France on Saturday to advance to the third round of the BNP Paribas Open. Clinton Portis Jersey . McCutchen hit his first home run in over a month, doubled twice and scored two runs to help the Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3 on Sunday and take three of four from the defending NL West champions. http://www.officialwashingtonredskinsfootball.com/authentic-pernell-mcphee-jersey-womens . The Mavericks were not going to let San Antonio beat them with 3-pointers, and they did not want Tony Parker using the lane as his personal playground. Chris Thompson Jersey . Toronto ended an 0-4-0 skid with Sundays shootout win over visiting New Jersey, but the club could have a difficult time making it two victories in a row tonight. The Maple Leafs have dropped three straight and 11 of the last 12 regular- season meetings against Boston overall and the Bruins have claimed six straight in Beantown. Tress Way Jersey . Pressley missed all of last season with Cincinnati because of a knee injury, but the 5-foot-10, 249-pounder had been expected to fill a need on Clevelands roster.Alex Ovechkin’s slump, big nights for Abdelkader, Datsyuk and Smith; lineup news, fantasy tips and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. Held scoreless in Wednesday’s 4-2 loss to Detroit, Capitals LW Alex Ovechkin has now gone a career-worst five consecutive games without a point. It’s not burying Ovechkin to point out that he’s in a slump (and I’ve already been something of an Ovechkin apologist in the past), but it’s easy to see that Ovechkin is really doing a lot well right now, even if the points haven’t been coming as expected over this short span of games. In the first nine games of the Barry Trotz era in Washington, Ovechkin has posted a career-best Corsi% (measuring even-strength shot attempts) of 59.4%. OVECHKIN POSSESSION STATS YEAR CORSI% CORSI REL% 2007-08 58.1% +4.2% 2008-09 57.4% +4.2% 2009-10 57.8% +7.2% 2010-11 53.9% +4.0% 2011-12 47.4% -2.3% 2012-13 49.2% +0.7% 2013-14 49.3% +2.5% 2014-15 59.4% +5.0% What’s encouraging about these numbers is that Ovechkin is driving play like he did earlier in his career, and a far cry from his 2011-2012 season when his offensive production hit career-low rates (65 points in 78 games). Like last season, Ovechkin is not getting much help from linemates – his lone assist this year has come on the power play – but thanks to a recent decline in shots on goal, his 4.22 shots on goal per game ranks as the second-lowest of his career. In the first four games of this dry spell, Ovechkin had mustered just seven shots on goal and that’s some reason for concern, because he’s always been a high-volume shooter, leading the league in shots on goal in eight of his nine seasons but, let’s not overreact, it was just four games. Wednesday, against Detroit, Ovechin attempted 13 shots, with seven on goal, against the Red Wings, which is a good way to get out of a scoring slump. Because Ovechkin’s underlying numbers have been so good, there’s not so much reason to worry about this slump, because those signs point to goals and points coming back at a more regular rate soon. HEROES Justin Abdelkader – Hard-hitting winger who gets to play a complementary role with some elite players in Detroit and he scored two goals and an assist in Wednesday’s 4-2 win at Washington. He scored a career-high 28 points last season, but has eight points (5 G, 3 A) in nine games this year, riding a 22.7% shooting percentage that won’t last, but he is also playing a career-high 16:30 per game and generating a career-best 2.44 shots on goal per game. Pavel Datsyuk – The Magician tallied a goal and an assist, with a team-leading eight shot attempts (4 SOG) in the win at Washington. Datsyuk has five points in four games since returning from injury, and the Red Wings have eased him in, playing 18:42 per game.ddddddddddddThe last season in which he averaged less ice time per game (than this admittedly very small sample) was 2005-2006. Craig Smith – The Predators’ leading goal-scorer, with 24, last season, Smith buried a pair of goals on nine shot attempts (5 SOG), while posting quality possession stats (17 shot attempts for, 10 against, 63.0%) in a 4-1 win at Edmonton. ZEROES Niklas Kronwall – The Red Wings’ No. 1 defenceman had a rough night, possession-wise, on for five shot attempts for and 18 against (21.7%). His worst forward matchups, head-to-head, were against Capitals C Nicklas Backstrom (2 shot attempts for, 10 against, 16.7%) and RW Joel Ward (2 for, 13 against, 13.3%). Mark Arcobello – Despite not starting an even-strength shift in the defensive zone, the Oilers’ centre had his team’s worst possession stats (9 shot attempts for, 16 against, 36.0%). SHORT SHIFTS Red Wings C Henrik Zetterberg had a pair of assists…Predators D Roman Josi had two assists and blocked seven shots…Predators G Pekka Rinne stopped 26 of 27 shots for the win in Edmonton. LINEUP NEED TO KNOW Capitals RW Eric Fehr was scratched from the lineup as second-year RW Tom Wilson was inserted into the lineup for his first game of the season after suffering a broken ankle in the summer. Predators C Calle Jarnkrok, still looking for his first point of the season, was scratched from the lineup in Edmonton Wednesday. Predators D Seth Jones played a season-low 14:46 at Edmonton, though had a solid possession game (15 shot attempts for, 9 against, 62.5%) in that limited role. FIRSTS Predators C Matt Cullen played his first game of the season, picking up an assist while playing 15:18. FANTASY FOCUS A few players, available in more than half of TSN leagues, to monitor on a busy 10-game night in the NHL: Jori Lehtera – Someone in St. Louis has to get the puck to the Blues’ scoring wingers and with injuries to Paul Stastny and David Backes, Lehtera is clearly the best option down the middle. He has six points in seven games and is centering Alexander Steen and Vladimir Tarasenko heading into tonight’s matchup with Anaheim. Michael Raffl – Getting moved to the Flyers’ top line with Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek is working well for Raffl, who has four goals and five points in the past five games. Tonight, the Flyers go to Tampa Bay, which isn’t an easy matchup, but Raffl is still available in nearly 99% of TSN leagues. Seth Griffith – The rookie winger has emerged as the Bruins’ best option on the right side with David Krejci and Milan Lucic, scoring three goals and five points in the past four games. Really, anyone on the Bruins is worth a look since they are in Buffalo to play the Sabres. Much of the data included comes from www.war-on-ice.com, www.puckalytics.com, www.hockeystats.ca and www.naturalstattrick.com Scott Cullen can be reached at scott.cullen@bellmedia.ca Cheap Barcelona JerseysCheap Real Madrid Jerseys AuthenticCheap Bayern Munich JerseysCheap Dortmund JerseysCheap USA JerseysCheap USWNT JerseysFrance Soccer JerseysSoccer Mexico JerseysCheap Germany JerseysCheap Belgium Soccer JerseysBrazil Jerseys From ChinaGermany Jerseys From ChinaAuthentic Soccer Mexico JerseysCheap Portugal Soccer JerseysWholesale Spain JerseysCheap France Football JerseysCheap Germany Jerseys AuthenticCheap Mexico Jerseys AuthenticWholesale Colombia JerseysCheap Belgium Football JerseysWholesale Argentina JerseysCheap USA Soccer Jerseys Chinacheap uswnt jersey authenticAuthentic AC Milan JerseysDiscount Arsenal JerseysWholesale A.S. 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