Ahead of Friday’s World Cup qualifier against Jamaica, United States head coach Jürgen Klinsmann called three more players into camp: midfielder Brad Davis, defender Clarence Goodson and forward Chris Wondolowski. Wondolowski, who scored five goals in the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup, will replace Eddie Johnson, who picked up a groin injury.
All three players called in saw action with their Major League Soccer clubs on Wednesday. Davis and the Houston Dynamo tied Sporting Kansas City, 0-0, while Wondolowski scored the winning goal in the San Jose Earthquakes’ 1-0 win over the Colorado Rapids. Goodson played the full match for San Jose.
With the U.S. already qualified for the World Cup, more changes could be on the way, as rumors circulate of MLS players requesting release to be with their clubs for weekend matches. Bringing in more players could facilitate that, as San Jose and Houston do not play again until Oct. 20.
Landon Donovan’s Los Angeles Galaxy takes on the Montreal Impact on Oct. 16, a day after the final U.S. qualifier at Panama, and Brad Evans’ Seattle Sounders FC faces an important match at the Portland Timbers on Sunday, two days after the qualifier against Jamaica.
Evans’ club teammate Johnson will face an MRI evaluation on Thursday and a possible return to Seattle, according to a U.S. Soccer press release. With another club teammate, Clint Dempsey, just recovering from his own injury that kept him out of the U.S. camp the team’s situation doesn’t get any easier.