U.S. soccer coach shines light on Landon Donovan injury [Updated]

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The Galaxy has been tight-lipped about the knee injury Landon Donovan sustained in the team’s game Oct. 6 at the Home Depot Center. But Juergen Klinsmann, coach of the U.S. national team, shed a small light on Donovan’s condition Monday.

[Updated at 6 p.m. Oct. 15: Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena said in a SiriusXM FC radio interview that Landon Donovan’s injury is a bone bruise.

Klinsmann called Donovan up to the national team last week ahead of a crucial pair of World Cup qualifiers after the Galaxy captain assured him that his injury wasn’t serious. But when the national team’s medical staff reviewed an MRI of Donovan’s left knee last Tuesday, they determined he wasn’t fit enough to play against Antigua & Barbuda last week or Tuesday against Guatemala in Kansas City.

“It was a surprise to us,” Klinsmann said of Donovan’s condition.

As a result, Donovan returned to Southern California, where, the Galaxy said, a more detailed examination was delayed for two days.

The team still has not said what that examination showed, although Coach Bruce Arena has continued to say he is optimistic the injury is not serious.

The Galaxy doesn’t play again until Sunday, when it meets conference-leading San Jose in a game that is looming as crucial in determined seeding for the Major League Soccer playoffs.

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