Clint Dempsey will be a major absentee for Seattle Sounders in the next two matches, as one of the club’s designated star players will be suspended. Apart from missing the next two league matches for Seattle Sounders, Dempsey he will also be disappointed that he will not have the opportunity to impress US national team manager Jurgen Klinsmann ahead of the friendly with Mexico. This is one of the few opportunities for the US players to stake a claim in the squad for World Cup 2014. Klinsmann has stated that he has no favourites and that the positions are open to all players.
Even though this was just a friendly match, Dempsey says that there is a lot at stake for both nations involved. Dempsey has been given this suspension for his violent conduct against Toronto player Mark Bloom when the two sides played out a 2-1 match. Seattle came out on the wrong side of the scoreline after this encounter. This was the first defeat of the season for Sigi Schmid and his men. They had opened the season with a 1-0 win over Sporting Kansas City. Seattle will be looking to recover their form when they take on Montreal Impact in the next match.
”Disappointed. I don’t agree with it. It is what it is and move on. It’s a friendly, it’s not a World Cup qualifier so there’s not much pressure that there would be if it was a World Cup qualifying game. But it’s still exciting to represent your country and to play against one of your rivals,” said Dempsey about his punishment and the upcoming friendly match against Mexico. ”It’s very disappointing to see Clint be the only person punished from this game. There is a foul against him in the sixth minute that should have been a red card,” said Klinsmann about the incident.