Donovan and Dempsey skip training for weddings
Reuters - Thursday 16 June 2011, 20:45
MIAMI - Leading United States national
team players Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey will miss three
days training for Sunday's CONCACAF Gold Cup quarter-final
against Jamaica in order to attend family weddings.
The U.S. Soccer Federation confirmed on Thursday that the
pair would be attending the weddings of their sisters -
Donovan in California and Dempsey in Texas.
The players will miss training on Thursday, Friday and
Saturday and will likely return Saturday evening by private
flights organised by the Federation.
Their absences were discussed well in advance of the
12-nation continental championship for North and Central
America and the Caribbean and the duo were given the go-ahead
by head coach Bob Bradley.
"As a coach, you sometimes have to make difficult
decisions," Bradley told reporters on Thursday after training
in Washington.
"Certainly we've also respected what family means to
players. In these cases, after speaking to the two players,
these are important days for them and their family. So you
weigh that against the team and you balance it out and make
those decisions," he said.
The U.S. finished second in Group C, qualifying for the
last eight behind Panama having lost to the Central Americans
on Saturday in Tampa.
The winners of the Gold Cup earn a place in FIFA's
Confederations Cup to be held in Brazil in 2013 and featuring
the champions of each continental confederation.