Cooper turned down U.S. national team invite

For those of you who A) were surprised not to see Kenny Cooper included in the U.S. national team's 18-man roster for the World Cup qualifying match against Trinidad & Tobago on Wednesday night and B) hadn't heard about it on Sunday, Cooper revealed that he actually turned down the invitation by U.S. coach Bob Bradley to be called up, citing an illness and ankle injury.

Cooper told the FC Dallas team blog on Sunday that he turned down the call:

"I made the difficult decision to pass on this opportunity because I had picked up a virus and have been playing with a sprained ankle," Cooper said. 'Considering the importance of my club's game versus Real Salt Lake this week, and that the National Team has already clinched a berth in the next round of qualifying, I felt it was the right thing to do to stay in Dallas and make sure I get well, and hopefully there will be other opportunities down the line."

You have to admire Cooper for his committment to FC Dallas but he probably should have ended the written statement after the "playing with a sprained ankle" part. Publicly stating that he turned down a call-up to prepare for an MLS match probably didn't go over too well in U.S. national team circles.

Comments

[sean]

Cooper is out of luck until January now. Hopefully they will have a deep enough roster that he can get a decent look then.

[Aquaman]

Yeah...I'm an FCD fan and a Cooper fan, but I agree Ives, he might have wanted to end that statement after the virus and the ankle injury.

[adam]

It is the right decision based on the importance of the respective games but yeah, he should have kept the part about the National Team snub to himself.

[Mig]

I think the honesty was refreshing. I would hope he is not penalized for it next year. It DOES change all the wailing and gnashing of teeth about his lack of callups though. I guess some folks will have to wait to string up old Coach Bradley for a while longer. :)

[Mannix]

This also could have been his way of giving Bob the bird for snubbing him for so long but giving him an invite once games become much less meaningful.

[TK]

I think the honesty was refreshing also.

We are such trained sheep here in the US. Be good boys. Never question, etc, etc...

I don't know if KC's game translates to Nats level, but I sure as hell would be pissed if I were him also, seeing past continued call ups while all he has done is score.

BB has made it very clear that KC lacks things he wants. Now KC is gonna take career of his club career, which is gonna get him paid big time in Euorpe. Can't blame him. He has the interest without the Nats and a passport. He doesn't have to beg.

This is actually a sign of US Soccer growth believe it or not.

I have a lot of respect for the kid now. Good for him. Of course the blind, nationalistic, narrow minded, flag waving sheep will have issues. I would take that as a compliment if I were him.

[TK]

"This also could have been his way of giving Bob the bird for snubbing him for so long but giving him an invite once games become much less meaningful"

Ya think?

Of course it is. EJ gets carte blanche, is clueless and gets called in every match for 2 years. That would piss me off. WOuldn't it piss you off?

[Andrew]

would you EVER hear a Wayne Rooney or Ronaldo say "given the important match with my club I am going to bypass playing for my country"?

A- Its the MLS
B- If he is injured thats one thing, but making a decision like that shows a LACK of maturity rather than the opposite. Very bad choice Coops, very bad indeed!

[Roy Keane]

I like his style! We may need to make room for a player like this. His attitude is just what the Black Cats need!

[Justin O]

Andrew - the only reason you would never hear Rooney or Ronaldo say such a thing is because Man Utd doesn't play on int'l dates.

And I really don't understand the "lack of maturity" comment at all. Why? Seems he's just exhibiting a bit of common sense, no?

[john]

Kenny really loves FC Dallas. Fans out there should appreciate that. First it was Rosenberg/Cardiff, now US National Team.

[Betinho]

Justin - Dallas doesn't paly until Sat night. NO conflict with FIFA there. KC played the full 90 on Sat and finished the game with a PK in extra time. I'm with the guy who says this is a middle finger to Bradley. I believe I saw Landon play about 30 minutes last night after playing with the US on Sat night. Something's not right here....

[Tom Brokaw]

TK is what we called paranoid. Im sorry but no player from argentina or brazil ever turns down a national team call up nor anyone from Italy or Spain. I guess those fans are sheep even too.

[Aquaman]

Don't get me wrong, I like his honesty too, but if his ultimate goal is to get called up to the national team, you're now dealing with Bradley's pride getting in the way. I mean it's one thing to be honest, but now you've probably hurt a guy's feelings. I'm not saying to baby it or any kind of hippy let's all get along, I'm just saying it's counter productive if his ultimate goal really is to play on the national team.

[Dannyc58]

Seems like a "go to hell" for inviting him up for a meaningless game.

Good for him.

[tk]

If he never gets called up again then the USSF leadership is as petty as advertised.

[James]

Now, before you say anything, I do realize the guy I'm about to mention is now no where near the caliber of player we all thought he would be, but:

Brian Carroll, four caps, looked to be a dead set addition to the men's nat rotation. And then on one of his last callups, he snubbed Arena in favor of "personal issues." Arena never called on Carroll again. Carroll, at the time, was still playing very well domestically. It was that the USMNT had issue with him snubbing them, even during an inconsequential match.

It's a one sided affair. Nats can snub a player, but the player can't snub the Nats if he ever wants to get called up again.

[Landis]

I admire his commitment to FCD, however Ives is right, he should have stopped after "sprained ankle." As a coach I would have felt alienated by him turning down the call up considering the amount of press that has surrounded this issue and would be questioning his commitment to the USMNT. He might get called into camp, but he'll have to impress the he11 out of Bradley to make the game roster.

[roberto]

it might very well be the last call up he gets from the nats...until BB is gone, and you know that won't happen cause the US will probably qualify and BB won't be questioned until..... The WC!! Where the US will pay again for having a mediocre coach in the same fashion as Arena;
I know this story to well... I hope I'm wrong

[Julio]

WHat a JOKE, this Cooper (Bring CHing the Second comming). Can you immagine a player in Argentina or Brazil saying he can't play because he wants to prepare for his club game and the game being a qualifier (don't matter that we clinched) and it being the first time he can be capped......what a joke. I hope he never puts on a US Jersey. He is a bigger STIFF than Ching is. I bet you combine both of them and you don't even get half a player. Both games are sorry. They score in the MLS because of the weak talent level. Yes MLS has made huge improvements and I watch it and support it since it's a home product but let's be fair. These guys would never make even a B team in England or Spain.

I can't get over this guy passing on the US team...what a punk.

[John]

What's the big deal. The guy is a bit injured and wants to make sure he can play in his team's most important game of the season on the weekend. Anyone who cares at all about MLS should understand. The Trinidad game is meaningless. Even if he didn't say it, everyone knows what's going on.

Bradley protected MLS teams in playoff contention from callups this past weekend (except for Landon Donovan). I think everyone gets it. I don't think Bradley would be too pissed off. I'm sure they spoke about it. You know Bradley will be asked about it at his press conferences this week.

[jmac]

what a moron.

[jmac]

Ives, can you get a post up about how Mexico lost at Jamaica this weekend, under the command of the respected Sven Goran Erickson. Hopefully that will quite down the "we should have won in Guatamala 6-0, gosh its not 1988, and Bob Bradley is a horrible coach" crowd!

[NOLA soccer fan]

You know...as crappy as this makes me feel. at least we know what the story is this time.

I really did want to see what the tandem of alitdore and cooper could do up front, but it'll have to wait for anotther day. hopefully sooner than later.

And i dont think bb should take this as a slight. the guy wants to be healthy and show his best for his club and his nation. granted i think we all would have prefered him tough it out. but whatever...its his body, its his call

[SonicDeathMonkey]

I think you are dead on John. Only I don't think anybody in the media will ask about it. They all seem to be afraid to ask Bradley anything. I think they are scared of him for some reason.

[Barksdale]

KC shouldn't be so choosy. He ought to be thankful he got called even if they already clinched.

[alex]

I think Bob Bradley gets a raw deal just because you guys are so hard set on having a foreign coach. All he's done is won, and I think he has enough integrity to let Kenny decide, i don't think he'll hold it against him. Secondly this came out from Kenny not Bob Bradley thats speaks volumes to me, so give the guy a break.

[Ulrich]

Has Cooper ever played a meaningful game for the US MNT that would cap-tie him???? I know that he's played in friendlies, but considering he has an English passport courtesy of his father, if he's not cap-tied he may very well be keeping his options open to play for england.... no, not a crazy thought since he was good enough for ManU's system and England does not have strikers that light up the opposition each/every game..... and if Peter Crouch can play for them then its not out of the question that a player with Cooper's skills could. He may be waiting to make his move to England where he'll be more visible to the national team coaches.

Just saying.... the US coaches have a bad recent history of burning bridges with players.

[Mike Caramba]

Anyone who says players never turn down international spots is just plain misinformed.

Anyone who says this would be Cooper's first cap is also just plain misinformed.

If the US weren't through to the Hex, that's one thing. But if I weren't 100% fit, my team was playing what amounts to a friendly on the road, and I'd have to turn around and play again a few days later, I would turn it down, too. Perhaps you can fault him for going public with it, but I really don't think you can fault the decision. Personally, I'm fine with it. It's honest.

And I'd like to think this didn't weigh in on the decision, but come on--Bradley took a little too long to call him up...seems just for Cooper to drag his feet, too.

[Barry U]

Good for you Kenny! I am a fan of BB but this is one thing he has handled very badly. Eddie Johnson can't get anything going at Fulham and no more than 10 minutes at the end of games for Cardiff but he is called in. Cooper who is scoring goals and attracting interest from overseas does not get a sniff. Same with Charlie Davies. Scoring goals for his club looked really ggod in a few minutes that they gave him in the Olympics but he gets 2 meaningless games.

The point is that we need guys that can play. Not guys who played well for 7 games against crappy opponents and have either been injured or brain locked ever since.

[Mike Caramba]

And anyone who thinks Cooper's going to go play for England...

Well, I hope you're wrong and I'd be extremely, extremely surprised if that happens.

[John]

Wow--unbelievably stupid and foolish by Cooper on so many levels.

1. Folks are assuming he's being honest (that he bleeds for FCD so much he'd sacrifice NT spot over club ambitions). I don't think that's it. I think he figured that Altidore, Adu and Torres would be subs before he would. So he's being called into camp to learn the system and trial and play later. And he wants a chance to go to Europe for big money. So far better to not miss 1-2 club games, rack up another 1-3 goals and help his chances of playing overseas rather than go sit on the NT bench. I see his motives as entirely selfish.

Not that there's anything wrong with that--it's his career. But I don't see him really placing club before country, just figuring out starting for club gets him to Europe faster than sitting for country would.

2. The rap on him that I've heard is that the NT coaching staff feels he free-lances too much, won't play a particular role or make the kind of runs they want from a forward and therefore needs to get acclimated to their system (so they don't have 10 guys on one page and Cooper on another). So that means (if the coaching really do see him that way--whether it's a fair perception or not), that he will NOT be called up for a friendly or qualifier UNLESS
(a) there are a ton of injuries and the NT is desperate or
(b) he goes to a camp, works with the team to get the system down and shows well and then goes to another camp, shows well, come in as a late game sub in an unimportant match and shows the movement and role that the coaches want of him. Only then does he get serious consideration. So....now that he's blow off this camp, the next bit he can hope for is a January camp (where he's likely going to be in Europe and it would be bad to pull him from his club when he's fighting for a role) where the camp would be to acclimate him. And with hex qualies starting after that, just when do we find a meaningless game to play him in? Probably post-hex.

We look at the WC as a long ways away. And the NT playing a lot of games between now and then. But the number of opportunities for a player to (a) get acclimated and get the role down (especially if it's a foreign way to how he is perceived as currently playing) and then (b) get him a game debut where the coaches see it as okay to experiment because results don't count....well, you can probably count the number of opportunities on one hand. If Cooper goes to Europe this winter, than his next real opportunity is probably summer 2009 in the Europe off-season. Maybe. I'd think our NT will be focused on preparing for the ConfedCup--viewing it not as a chance to experiment but to choose from our top 25-30 guys who know the system and have shown potential for 2010 to give them a practice tournament before South Africa 2010.

[kebzach]

I don't know who is dumber...Kenny Cooper, or the hoards of Kenny Cooper fans who filled the internet with their wisdom for months, only to see him turn around and take a bite of out Bob Bradley's hand.

[kebzach]

Ives, can you get a post up about how Mexico lost at Jamaica this weekend, under the command of the respected Sven Goran Erickson. Hopefully that will quite down the "we should have won in Guatamala 6-0, gosh its not 1988, and Bob Bradley is a horrible coach" crowd!

Posted by: jmac

______________________________________________

Unfortunately, the crowd that makes those comments about Bob Bradley is the same crowd that would be too dense to understand the meaning of Ives' post.

[Ulrich]

Mike - Actually, I just answered my own question...

Cooper has NEVER player a cap-tied game for the US. His two games were friendlies against Denmark (1-20-7) and Guatemala (3-28-07). Now I'm not sure if his age is an issue, but since he holds a UK passport he very likely could still be able to play for England.

[soccerroo]

Well at leaste everybody can stop complaining that he did not get called up.

My hope is that KC will get over to Europe and find a team that he can play on and a coach that can help him with some of his weak spots and then next year it won't be an issue as he will be the best option.

[Jacob A.]

Ulrich, a player is cap-tied as long as it's an "A" game, which those games were. Just because it's a friendly doesn't mean it doesn't count. That's why Jozy has 2 caps, one saturday and the one against Mexico in February.

[thumpjosh]

BUMMER!

whatever the reason for KC not accepting the invite, i'm seriously bummed.

i can understand him somewhat tactfully turning his nose up at BB, i'm one of the many who have been clamoring for his call-up, but really, if he wanted to show BB (and permenantly lame EJ) KC should've just whoed up and scored a couple goals.

i don't know, i guess i respect him for it... afterall, i'd be irritated, too.

but DAM**T!

[kpugs]

Meanwhile guys like Gigi Buffon are injured, out of their teams qualifiers, and STAYING WITH THE TEAM.

As far as I'm concerned Cooper can eff himself. If I were him I'd be there whether I played or not, whether I could practice or not. I don't respect him in the least for this decision and can't believe other people do.

[yoman]

Good Move, he wants to play for England in the future, after he has moved there...

[yoman]

Gigi Left the training camp last friday , and there were no Serie A games this weekend...

[yoman]

Good Move, he wants to play for England in the future, after he has moved there...

Posted by: yoman | October 13, 2008 at 11:08 AM

--------------

My Mistake, he's already played for the US...Oh well then he's moron

[Homey]

A few people were asking the question what would happen if this were a star European player for a top team. I can answer that with some confidence. If England had a game against some minnow after already qualifying, and a key player had a huge game coming up that would impact a league title or FA Cup or something... do y'all really think that player would leave mid-week and play for the English team? You think a manager like Fergie or Wenger would just say, "Ok, go play that meaningless game." hahahahaha Whatever. Good for Cooper and let's go FCD.

[Danny]

So the U.S. MNT overlooks him left and right and when they want him to play "garbage" time and mop up he says "no" and that's looked down upon in the NT circles? Such is life, but I say to you Kenny Cooper: Good on ya mate!

Cooper should have been playing before the mop up time. If he wants to skip out for his club and to nurse an injury then I think he's due.

[CD]

stop teasing me bro

[Ed Ho]

This looks more like Cooper being afraid to go into his first camp injured. He shhould have gone and then just sat out the match if unfit.

I think you can write him off for a while now. The US have other options up top. He looks promising, but is only a marginal choice for the national team anyway. Altidore, Davis, Adu, Ching, Dempsey, Donovan all could be in front of him until he gets on the field for the national team. Any one of those guys socring against T&T and imprressing puts him farther down the list by not even showing up. I like him, but this appears to be a very bad decision on his part.

[Ed Ho]

BTW - the suggestion that Cooper could ever get on the field for England is a joke. Even as bad as their options are, he wouldn't be in the Top 20 options for them. Hell, he's not even in the Top 10 options for the US right now.

[Jamie Z.]

Geez, I wish people didn't have such polarized reactions to everything -- it signifies a lack of perspective and--in some cases--intelligence. I'd prefer to take issues like this at face value. Once you start reading between the lines, there's room to draw any conclusion that supports your agenda and there's no way to prove it right or wrong. Let's wait a bit to see how things turn out.

[Adam M.]

Stupid move by KC. In that situation, you take the call-up and sit on the bench if you are injured or fight through it for what would probably be limited minutes anyway and get your National Team numbers up for transfer purposes (See Guzan, Brad). Cooper has to face the reality that Altidore, who scored a very nice goal in his limited minutes against Cuba, is in front of him right now in the tradional striker spot, not to mention Ching, who I don't love, but who has turned in some nice performances lately. KC will have no opportunities to get on the pitch for the National Team in meaningful games if he doesn't first show up for games where he can be tested. Bad decision, KC. Maybe you need some different advisers.

[Joamiq]

Uh, I hate to burst your bubbles, but you people only think Cooper is giving the finger to Bradley because you want him to give the finger to Bradley. Cooper's not an idiot. It's not in his interest to piss off BB.

[Jon E]

Doesn't some of the wisdom of saying that a) his team is in the playoff race and b) he's not hurting the US' qualification chances by staying with FCD depend at least in part on whether or not he talked about the same things with Bradley when he got the call-up?

Sure, this could be KC saying, "Screw you, Bob, next time call me for a game that matters." But it seems that it could (also) be his saying, "Look, Bob, if you absolutely need me to come, if this is a make or break NT thing for me, then I'll be there. But I'm playing beat up right now, FCD is fighting for the playoffs, and the team doesn't need me there to fight for points, so is it okay by you if I wait until Guatemala or Camp Cupcake?" If he already said it to Bradley, why not say it in public?

[Brokenbil]

Last night I posted on the US-Cuba thread about Cooper declining the USMNT invite, but my comment was removed. In any event, never again will I ask about Cooper getting called up.

[Angel]

Ives. I agree with you about the comment he made about playing for Dallas FC but how many time, He waited for Bob Bradley to call him back to USNMT. It took for ever, how many time he call EJ or Ching over a guy who been playing a good futball and scoring goals. I think Bob B. Should remember that they are in the playoff and that he'd coach an MLS team before. All I hope is that he should give him a nother call to play against Guatemala and the HEX. I think with Robbie, Davis, Altidore, Donovan, and Kenny Cooper we have a very strong attacking force.. GO USA

[Keith]

Cooper is not yet cap tied - only official A matches cap tie a player. These include Gold Cup, WCQ, and World Cup matches - not friendlies. That's why Chris Armas (Puerto Rico) and Jeff Cunningham (Jamaica) were able to play for us.

[northzax]

couple things: I believe that Denmark game was not an 'A' friendly, so it doesn't count as a cap. The Guatemala game does, of course.

For those who think he can play for England; whose spot do you see him taking? Wayne Rooney? Dafoe? Hesky? Maybe he can drop to the midfield and take theo Walcott's spot?

While I am sure Bradley appreciated him saying he was offered a spot and turned it down due to illness and injury, Ives is right, if he wanted to play ever he should have ended there. For a man with no national team chops at all to publically call put the manager is absurd. The good ship cooper has sailed, barring major injury to Jozy. Sorry kenny.

[TimN]

Well, if Bradley and the NT get their feelings hurt just because Cooper was being honest, then that's their problem. Cooper's absolutely right. Why hinder his recovery and jeopardize his team for the playoffs when the US has already secured a berth in the next round of WCQ. The away game at T&T is moot. I admire his commitment to his team.

[Betinho]

TNT game is Wed....Dallas plays Sat night. The games don't interfere with one another. He just played 90 with out the sign of limp two days ago.

Either he's a)pissed off and said no or b)he thinks he's so good that he will make the team at a later date or c)both.

Players play up injuries all the time to avoid national team call ups. Looking at the way he played against TFC this seems to be the case. And furthermore, Landon - the one people on this site love to call a girl - played for the Galaxy last night - after going 90 the DAY BEFORE. A Wed NT game with a Sat club game should be no problem for KC.

[BJR]

Just glad to hear that he actually got a call.

Does this put to rest the claim that BB had not called him in before so he could stay with Dallas and help them into the playoffs?

Funny that he now gets the call when Dallas really does need to him for the playoff push.

Is BB playing mind games?

[Betinho]

And another thing people - please stop comparing Ching to EJ. If you can't se the value of Ching stop watching soccer. I doubt Ching would ever turn down the NT even when hurt or if he had a game the same f-ing day. That guy is as deserving as anyone to get call ups and he give 100%. Oh and yes....he scores goals. I'm really sick of all the ching bashing - especially in light of this KC BS.

[jloome]

Every coach in Europe hates the impact of national team callups, even with the off-days for official matches, because they're still affected by friendlies all year and don't always get postponments. Plus, they have games in close proximity to each other; look how many times Man U has last second "injuries" that keep guys off national teams.

So Cooper probably just sent them a clear message that he's a club first guy, with everyone expecting him to go somewhere there next year. Smart.

Beyond that, he knows at his age that he'll get his due with the Nats eventually. And he gets to send Bradley a warning shot by scoring two the same weekend, making the point of who the in-form guy is instead of going to a meaningless nats game.

Love all the jingoistic "my country or go home" stuff here. Real sensible.

[Mike Caramba]

It's funny how people make fun of the obsession with Kenny Cooper when it's pretty obvious here that there's way more Cooper hate out there.

[amy]

Does anybody know where the January camp will be? What city?

[Betinho]

Jloome -it's not jingoistic when the games don't interfere with each other (if he ends up up the EPL he'll be expected to play 2x week) and as you alluded to his injury is a joke of an excuse. He's being a baby ("wah, i din't called in for an ipmotant game")who has a big head. He just lost me as a fan. And not because of "jingoistic" reasons.

[Jamie Z.]

BREAKING NEWS: U.S. soccer fans are just as fickle, capricious, judgmental, short sighted, and reactionary as soccer fans everywhere else.

[Ed Ho]

Jamie Z,

The data we do have is that Cooper turned down an invitation and issued a statement saying he was hurt and the game wasn't very important. So, we do have data - everything else is speculation. Given the history here, I doubt his turning it down helped his cause.

[DallasFan]

FC Dallas made the choice for him - I guarantee you. "20 minutes for the US, or getting FCD in the playoffs and another home game ($$$) for the organization? And you want help getting to Europe??? You are playing at RSL, case closed..."

[Jim]

To be honest, I can think of several players in both Europe and South America who have turned down caps and cited club team commitments... and in almost all those situations the coach held a grudge and stopped calling the player up.

Now I HOPE both Bradley takes the high road here and brings KC back in January. But do I expect it? Not really. I respect Kenny's honesty, but some times you need to put practicality first.

[Sushant Rao]

Man, I just don't get the hate.

At this point, he has to ask himself the question, what's more important:
- helping his club get to the playoffs, in a league that doesn't respect FIFA qualifying dates?
OR
- show his wares to the USMNT coaching staff in a meaningless game (the game is a friendly for the US and a qualifier for the T&T)

For those of you that are saying that he thumbed his nose at BB and the USMNT, I'm really surprised by the hate.

Given the kid gloves BB treats MLS, basically not calling MLS players if they are needed by their clubs, I'm sure BB is a little miffed, but I think he understands. That said, I think KC has to show up to the last qualifier which, again, will be a friendly for the US (against Guat) on Wed, 11/19.

[NOLA soccer fan]

Really i dont see why all the Cooper hate. hes a good player and people want to see if he can hack it.

i mean is it any different than alitdore. When he came up he was this amazing talent, great attributes, good eye for goal. and now after some proven games against mexico and other friendlies, we know he is worthwhile.

Cooper has the potential to be good, thats why everyone is on him and pissing people off. After brian mcbride retired, we need new attacking options. and the long ball play into the box will not consistently work against higher tier competition.

EJ has proven that he needs to learn how to strike again. Ching is a wily vet who will battle in the trenches. Alitdore is the young guy who will be very good. however beyond that there is a question mark (granted im counting donovan as a midfielder)

To all the cooper haters. who cares. we all want the same thing. a damn good usmnt.

[SeaOtter]

I love it!!

Before this all you guys were speculating that he was left off the Cuba roster b/c he was in a playoff race. And anyone who questioned Bradley for not calling him was a moron for not recognizing it.

Now when Cooper says that club (and his ankle) is before country he has screwed himself and shouldn't be asked back.

Play nice now children.

[alex r]

Cooper is sick and injured. The USA game is wednesday, fcd plays saturday and those 3 days can make a difference. Cooper made the right decision. He already has a British passport so does'nt need any time with the USA national team on that score. By the way, remote as it, he is NOT cap tied to the USA as only competitive games (at any age level) count. Cooper has never represented the USA in a competitive game.Period.

[smokeminside]

Just read through the thread, and may have missed it, but it seems to me the T and T game DOES matter to our young guys playing in it. It's not just another friendly to them, or shouldn't be; it's a chance to show Bradley what they can do, when those chances are few and far between. If Cooper were healthy enough to play, and he wanted to play for the Nats, he should've joined the team. I think KC's reaction is unwise, and I think it'll be interesting to see how Bradley reacts to it. Major proviso: This all depends on how much he and Bradley discussed his call-up, of course.

[NOLA soccer fan]

Look in the end. as crappy as it is to KC supporters and as good as it seems to his haters. At least we didnt have a kevin kuryani moment.

KC never bailed on the team, which is a good sign. he told BB that he was sick and had a lingering injury. Granted those are legit reasons. I mean in the end someone else will be able to get a roster spot because of his being sick.

And for those who think he will go to the English national team...yeah right. He would be in the peter crouch role. and the brits already have a peter crouch. so really, this is the only national soccer he can hope to play.

[paul lorinczi]

Surprised you guys just blew by the "Roy Keane" comments.

That was freaking hilarious.

Roy, or whoever you are, thanks for the laugh.

[supsam]

awwwwww man coops. I hope this doesnt come back and bit you in the ass later on. i am still drooling till this day on the possiblities of a Altidore-Cooper Tandem with Donovan seated just behind them...with Beasley and Dempsey on the wings.......droolllllllllllll

[Nicole]

I agree with you, Ives. Cooper should have let it go after "I'm injured and can't play." I actually couldn't care less if he gets called up again or not.

Cooper is not the answer. He might be a seviceable player, but he's never going to be "THE" danger man at the international level.

[Raghu]

Have to admit - this is absolutely hilarious. For everyone who goes nuts on this site calling for Coopers inclusion -you unequivocally have his call up!!!!

Can there now be a moratorium on Kenny Cooper call up posts until January, Ives???

[SonicDeathMonkey]

Amy, the last couple of years the January camp has been at the HDC, and I would suspect thats where it will be again. And for god sakes people, enough with Cooper not being cap-tied. He is.

[Brian]

I like Cooper but I think by 2010 Altidore, Donovan, and Charlie Davies will all be ahead of him on the depth chart.

[brett]

bradley even stated that with a win we would be seeing different faces on the remaining 2 game rosters....

all the negative posts about giving another reason for BB to snub him are merely bitter fans who take nothing into account.... BB will understand, as he's a professional.... KC staying with FCD was the smartest move for him.... ESPECIALLY since he probably wouldnt see PT with the subs in place... i mean seriously... Jozy, Adu, Torres... fans have been screaming for jozy and adu, and there was no way Torres was not going to come out of the game without a cap... not with Mex Fed hounding on him....

[royce]

man... i don't know where to start. i think he should have attended camp, even if he wasn't going to play. as far as i'm concerned, treatment at nat'l team camp is just the same as treatment at dallas, and he'll at least be showing solidarity with the team and willingness to learn the "system" if he truly wants to play with the nat'l team

[lol... any "system" that leaves adu off the field for "age", and cooper off the field because he's not a "target striker" like ching or EJ is something that probably deserves to be snubbed, but that's beyond the point...]

as for cooper being able to play for england, you all have got to be kidding. if i hear one more reference to his passport that's not related to a club transfer... lol

[Robert]

Don't worry folks... KC will go to England during the winter transfer and will immediately get called into camp (a la EJ), because Bob Bradley is a Euro snob.

[Brett]

First, I'd like to say it was very big of him to decline the invite and open up the door for someone else to get a look. He could have been selfish and taken his sick, hurt self down there to train with the team.

However, I don't like the fact that he suffixes that sentiment by adding that he would rather help out his MLS club.

Finally though, I'm glad to have this weight lifted off of Bob Bradley. He invited Cooper per the requests of the masses, and we are no better off than before he was invited. Although, I am still whole-heartedly against Brian Ching being the default top striker.

[Nick I]

The amount of people who think that he would have a prayer of getting called in by England is truly hilarious. I have yet to truly see a reason to believe he's all that much better than Ching or Twellman or any other overinflated MLS striker flavor of the month, and you're worried that England is going to steal him? Remind me to stay away from whatever it is you people are imbibing in.

He was about to be signed by either Cardiff or Rosenborg. Have you ever seen a player from either the Championship or the Norwegian league play for England? I know I haven't. And before you say that he'll stay there for a year and then freaking Arsenal will sign him or something, if he were really that great, why wouldn't Arsenal or whoever sign him now and then loan him out? That's what happened with Altidore.

The answer, of course, is that he's not that great, and that the overvaluing of him by a certain segment (mainly the MLS segment) of the U.S. fanbase has reached truly epic proportions.

As far as I'm concerned, if he doesn't care about his country, then I don't care about him. Screw him. Dump him from the call-up list, get to installing Davies as our second striker of the future, and let's all get on with our lives. Because I guarantee you that he is nowhere near as good as everyone thinks he is, and he is not worth all this BS.