The timing of the call from the U.S. national team coach was unexpected, but there was never any doubt that Brad Davis would pick up the phone.
Not long after the U.S. defeated the Netherlands 4-3 in a wild exhibition match in Amsterdam last Friday, the Dynamo captain was at a gas station when a familiar, famous name flashed up on his cellphone screen.
“I was definitely surprised that it was that quick after the game. I was actually walking into the gas station, I set my phone on the counter and I was paying for a drink and it says ‘Jurgen Klinsmann’ on there. I was like, really?” Davis told reporters at Houston Sports Park on Thursday.
“So that was a little bit of a surprise but nonetheless you take the calls whenever they come. So I walked right out [to take the call], came back in and paid for that later.”
Davis was not the only Dynamo to have Klinsmann’s name flash up on his caller ID in recent days as the coach formed his provisional 35-man roster for next month’s CONCACAF Gold Cup, which will be reduced to 23 players for the tournament.
“It was out of the blue. last time we spoke was when I called him to say I was retiring. So I was actually sleeping, I didn’t get his call and I called him back,” DaMarcus Beasley told reporters. “He left me the message that he wanted me to come back. We spoke and we had a couple of conversations before I made my decision and that’s kind of how it went.”
Davis has 17 international caps. The 33-year-old hasn’t been involved with the national team since last summer’s World Cup, when he started in the 1-0 loss to Germany, as Klinsmann took the opportunity to introduce younger players to the roster. But the midfielder, who cites the World Cup as a career highlight and says he struggles to put into words just how proud and honored he feels to represent his country, always held out hope that he’d be recalled.
“I knew he was looking to go with a lot of younger faces and things like that through the beginning of this year and possibly through the Gold Cup. He was up front about that. But to get the call — I definitely felt like there was going to be another opportunity for me, so I’m glad it’s the Gold Cup, it’s a big tournament, it’s here in the States, it’s a fun one to be a part of,” he said.
Beasley, meanwhile, had closed the door on his stellar international career. He announced his retirement last December after 13 years, 121 caps (fifth all-time) and four World Cups, something no other American has achieved. It seemed a natural moment to bring his time with the national side to an end. But a conversation with Klinsmann persuaded him to rethink his decision.
“Klinsmann called me last week and asked me my thoughts about coming back to the team. It wasn’t a day, two days, it took a little bit of time for me to think about it and see what I want to do and he gave me that time. He said ‘Beas, I understand obviously you’re retired from the national team but it’d be great to have you again,’” the 33-year-old said.
“I feel good about it. If I didn’t feel that I could still play at that level then I would say. And obviously him as well, too. I feel good about the decision, I feel confident and if he needs me then I’m available.”
Beasley was flattered to be asked and even after so many appearances, the thought of pulling on the jersey still excites him. “I’ve played a lot of games for my country and what player would turn down a chance to still play for the national team?” he said.
“I’m not going to be one of those players that plays until they’re 40 and they should have retired at 35. That’s not me… I still feel fit, I still feel fine, I still feel I can help the team if I do get called upon. What kid — and I still do feel I’m a kid — is going to turn down a chance to play national team games? It’s going to be great to be back with the boys and see those guys again and obviously the new group.”
Davis is convinced that his teammate is still capable of excelling on the international stage. “You watch DaMarcus, it’s kind of the same thing with Landon [Donovan] — you watch Landon walk out of the game but you know he can still play. You watch Beas walk away from the national team but you watch him play and he could easily still play,” he said.
If they are selected to the final roster, it’s likely that Klinsmann feels the veteran pair can offer valuable experience as he looks to retain the Cup. Beasley won four Gold Cups, most recently as captain in 2013. The U.S. are in a group with Haiti, Honduras and Panama. They kick off against Honduras in Frisco on July 7 and the final is on July 26 in Philadelphia. Beasley said he had discussed various scenarios with Klinsmann, including only playing the knockout stages if the U.S. reach them.
That limited commitment would be a boost to Dynamo head coach Owen Coyle, who’s facing the loss of half-a-dozen key players this summer. Already, Jamaicans Giles Barnes and Jermaine Taylor are in Chile for the Copa America. There’s Davis and Beasley. And Luis Garrido and Boniek García are on Honduras’ 35-man squad.
The Dynamo have seven fixtures between now and the end of July, starting with an Open Cup clash against the Austin Aztex at BBVA Compass Stadium on June 17 (7:30 p.m.; TICKETS). Next month brings four MLS matches.
While no coach would ever be happy about losing senior players, Coyle says he “totally understands the lure and the prestige and everything that’s involved in that.”
For the Scot, in his first season as an MLS coach after managing in England, playing league matches during international dates is all part of the learning curve. “When I was at Bolton Wanderers I had 14 internationals in my team and not one of them ever missed a club game because of the FIFA calendar. And obviously within MLS, not only the Houston Dynamo but all the clubs within MLS have huge players, big, big stars, missing for important games,” he said.
“I knew when I came to MLS at the outset there was loads of stuff for me to learn and there still is, it’s an ongoing process in my development, my learning — along with the travel and the time zones and everything else, the fact that you can miss international players for huge games. It’s already happened to us against Colorado, with half the team missing.
“We go to Portland next week with players missing because of the Copa America, then we move into the Gold Cup and we could have as much as six or seven players missing for that. That’s just something that we just have to make the best of what we’ve got when that situation comes about.”
Tom Dart is a contributing writer to HoustonDynamo.com and HoustonDashSoccer.com. Former editor and reporter for The Times of London and reporter for SI.com, Dart currently freelances for The Guardian.
