Two years after he was controversially left off the US’s 2014 World Cup squad by Jurgen Klinsmann, Landon Donovan said he and Klinsmann have patched things up.
Donovan, who will serve as color commentator for FS1’s coverage of the US’s Copa America Centenario semifinal against Argentina on Tuesday night (9 pm ET; FS1, Univision, UDN), told SI.com’s Maggie Gray that he and Klinsmann smoothed things over after meeting “for a few hours” ahead of the US’s quarterfinal win against Ecuador last week in Seattle.
Donovan was in Seattle to broadcast the US-Ecuador match and was involved in pregame broadcast meetings with Klinsmann and the rest of the FS1 crew.
“Jurgen and I actually had a really good meeting before the Ecuador game and sat for a few hours and talked about a lot of things,” he said. “I’ll keep that private, but it was very good. I think we have come to a place where we both can move on from it. It wasn’t an easy time, probably for either of us, but we’ve both realized that life goes on and if we’re both going to be involved in this sport we should probably have a relationship. So we are on good terms and I expect it to remain that way.”
Donovan also praised Klinsmann’s performance during the Copa America, telling Gray that he thinks the USMNT manager has made good tactical and lineup choices and “instilled a belief” and trust among the team.
