WASHINGTON – Dwayne De Rosario, the 35-year-old forward with 73 caps for the Canadian national team, wasn’t added to Canada’s CONCACAF Gold Cup roster when announced by interim coach Colin Miller on Tuesday.
Instead, Miller decided to select a largely young, unproven club, which includes none of D.C. United’s three Canadian players – De Rosario, defender Dejan Jakovic and winger Kyle Porter.
“[I’m] disappointed,” De Rosario said following Wednesday night’s US Open Cup win against New England. “But I know, for a lot of the countries, this Gold Cup is an opportunity for a lot of people to see new faces. But it is what it is. The coach made that decision and I’m going to continue what I do here, and that’s putting the ball in the net, creating chances.”
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De Rosario, who has scored 20 goals for his national team, found the net in Wednesday’s Open Cup match to help United to a 3-1 victory, pushing them into the semifinals against the Chicago FIre next month.
Untied coach Ben Olsen hinted that his captain might have been playing with a bit of a chip on his shoulder.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Dwayne’s pissed off about [not being called up] and if some of this is because of that,” Olsen said. “He can find motivation in a lot of things. He can find motivation in me doubting him at times, he can find motivation in Canada. I don’t care where he finds it, but he’s been a real stud the last couple weeks and he looks like he had his edge again and a little bit of a different look in his eyes. It’s good to have.”
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But when asked about whether or not the Gold Cup snub motivated him, De Rosario was direct in his response.
“No,” he said. “Hell no. I play for this club, this organization, to win. I don’t dwell on that stuff. That’s something that they’ve got to deal with. I wish the players all the best, but me, I’m focused on this [Open] Cup game. It’s a huge game and I like these big games.”
