Galaxy can make strides while Landon Donovan awaits U.S. call

Galaxy star forward Landon Donovan was left off the list of players called to training camp for the U.S. national soccer team, as expected, ahead of the U.S. team’s World Cup qualifying matches next month.

But U.S. Coach Jurgen Klinsmann indicated that Donovan, who’s the all-time leading scorer for both the Galaxy and the U.S. club, would eventually be called to rejoin the national squad.

So it’s an opportunity for the Galaxy to make the most of Donovan’s uninterrupted presence on the Major League Soccer team over the next six weeks as it tries to win its third consecutive MLS championship.

Donovan took an extended leave after the Galaxy won its second MLS Cup in a row in December, and returned to the squad in mid-April after the MLS season already was underway.

But Donovan is getting back up to speed, and the potent combination of Donovan and Robbie Keane on the Galaxy’s front line was on display Wednesday when each scored in the Galaxy’s 4-1 win over the Union in Philadelphia.

The Galaxy is now 5-3-2 and tied with Real Salt Lake for third in the MLS Western Conference, seven points behind first-place FC Dallas.

The Galaxy next plays the Red Bulls in New York on Sunday before returning home to face Seattle on May 26. Then in June the Galaxy plays three of its five games on the road.

(A fourth game, against Chivas USA on June 23, technically is also an away game for the Galaxy but will be played at Home Depot Center in Carson, the stadium they share.)

Though he did not call Donovan to the U.S. camp as many expected, Klinsmann, in a Q&A; with USSoccer.com, said “Landon is catching up” and “will get sharper and more confident with every game he’s going to play now.”

“Maybe later on we’ll definitely expect him back in the team,” Klinsmann said.

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