Landon Donovan left off Olympic roster

Galaxy star Landon Donovan, widely regarded as America’s top soccer player and the captain of the U.S. national team, was not included today when the U.S. named its roster for the Beijing Olympics.

Coach Peter Nowak could have named Donovan as one of three “overage” players permitted to take part in the under-23 tournament, but instead opted for goalkeeper Brad Guzan, defender Michael Parkhurst and forward Brian McBride.

The decision was based, in part, on the fact that the U.S. has a 2010 World Cup qualifying game on the road against Guatemala at the same time that Olympic Games are being played in China.

Nowak said that he and national team Coach Bob Bradley had sought to make sure that the U.S. fields the strongest possible teams in both events and that the belief was that Donovan would be needed more in the World Cup qualifier.

The Galaxy was traveling to New York today for Saturday’s MLS game against the Red Bulls and Donovan was not available for comment. He had said earlier this year that we wanted to play in the Olympics after helping the U.S. reach the semifinals at the Sydney 2000 Games.

However, Alexi Lalas, the Galaxy’s president and general manager, said leaving Donovan out was understandable.

“As much as we respect the Olympics, qualifying for the World Cup is the most important part of the equation,” he said. “If you’re Bob Bradley, you need to be given every available resource to qualify. The Olympics are going to come and go, but not qualifying for the World Cup would be a disaster.”

Nowak’s 18-man roster features nine players from Major League Soccer, including Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan, and nine players who are based either in Europe or Mexico.

The U.S. plays Japan, the Netherlands and Nigeria in the first round.

“We had some tough decisions to make,” Nowak said of the roster selection. “It’s no secret that we have a difficult challenge in front of us with our group.”

The Dutch are considered the group favorite; Nigeria comes in having finished second behind Argentina in the Under-20 World Cup in 2005, and the Japanese make for a problematic first-game opponent.

Nowak will assemble his squad on Sunday in Palo Alto, where the team will train for six days before heading to Hong Kong. There it will play two other Olympic teams, the Ivory Coast on July 30 and Cameroon on Aug. 2, in its final preparatory matches.

Although there were no surprises in the 18-man squad, the inclusion of McBride is intriguing. The 36-year-old striker retired from international competition after the 2006 World Cup in Germany, after playing 95 games and scoring 30 goals for the U.S.

He had a successful career in the English Premier League and left Fulham after helping the team avoid relegation in May. He is now without a club but is the subject of a tug-of-war between two MLS teams, Toronto FC and the Chicago Fire.

Nowak said he believed playing in the Games would be “the cherry on the cake” for McBride, one of America’s all-time top forwards.

Joining him in the attack will be Jozy Altidore, recently signed by Villareal in Spain, Charlie Davies of Hammarby IF in Sweden, and Robbie Rogers of the Columbus Crew. Freddy Adu, of Benfica in Portugal, could also be employed as a forward but is listed as a one of seven midfielders on the U.S. roster.

Guzan, the former Chivas USA player who is finalizing details of his move to Aston Villa in the English Premier League, will be the starting goalkeeper.

The full U.S. roster:

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan, Chris Seitz.

Defenders: Patrick Ianni, Michael Orozco, Michael Parkhurst, Nathan Sturgis, Marvell Wynne.

Midfielders: Freddy Adu, Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu, Benny Feilhaber, Stuart Holden, Sacha Kljestan, Danny Szetela.

Forwards: Jozy Altidore, Charlie Davies, Brian McBride, Robbie Rogers.

 grahame.jones@latimes.com