Major League Soccer wasn't the only party paying close attention to Clint Dempsey's US Open Cup outburst, one that earned the Seattle and US national team forward a three-game suspension last Friday.
Like just about everyone else, USMNT boss Jurgen Klinsmann saw the clip of the Dempsey knocking referee Daniel Radford's notebook from his hand then ripping it up, actions that earned him a red card and the subsequent ban, during stoppage time of an Open Cup match against the Portland Timbers last Tuesday.
Though Klinsmann labelled Dempsey's action "a mistake," the German included his captain among the 23 players called up for the Gold Cup on Tuesday.
“The situation with Clint Dempsey, obviously, is something that I saw basically on the internet," Klinsmann said in a Q&A on USsoccer.com. "I was in Europe still after our games against Holland and Germany. It’s something that nobody wants to see. It’s a mistake, and mistakes happen. So, obviously when he comes in next week to Nashville in preparation for our friendly game with Guatemala, we’ll sit down and talk through that and we’ll go from there.
"It’s something that nobody wants to go through. Nobody wants to get red carded. Nobody wants to get suspended and be in discussion by the fans and the media for a mistake you make. But it’s on the other hand, it’s part of the game too. So we’ll take a little bit of a step back and we’ll discuss it in person in a relaxed way and go from there. “
Dempsey was not available for Sounders 2-0 defeat to San Jose on Saturday, and he will also miss matches against Philadelphia and Portland this week. He will conclude his suspension in time to join the USMNT for a pre-Gold Cup friendly against Guatemala on July 3 in Nashville.
