Ryan Giggs did it properly: He announced his retirement from national play (Wales) presumably to focus more on his enduring career at Man U.
Other players, such as David Beckham, consider national call ups to be nearly holy and sacrifice and fight to play for their countries.
There are a few, however, that just can't seem to pick one or the other, but reside in that middle of the road, pick and choose arena, which frankly has no place in sport.
Landon Donovan, the captain of the US team, has decided that he gets to pick and choose what national games he will...play. Which means that the team, during the games he is too busy for, will be sans captain while he stays by the dying side of the LA Galaxy. Although its not like he's doing anything for them while he's there - never mind the Galaxy fans boo him...sure he's the Galaxy's captain too but generally, at least in the rest of the world, national call ups take precedent - clubs understand, and players, should they not want to play nationally any longer, always have the option to retire and focus on their club play.
Ironically, its been speculated that the Galaxy season has been crafted around the fact that Donovan would likely be called to play for the US national team...but instead of taking advantage of that and playing fully for both club and country, Donovan has decided that he will pick what national games he will play.
Not only is this a huge blow to the management of the national team, which sends the message that the players run the team, and not the coach, but its also a huge blow to whatever commitment Donovan may have for the good of the national team, which he is captain of. If this is the type of commitment that the national captain has for his country and its games, how can anyone take the US team seriously?
Donovan didn't need to make such a public announcement about his prima donna choice to pick and choose what national games he wants to play - he could have dealt with this privately but instead he usurped the national team's autonomy and road the press corp into the headlines, focusing the story on him, again, as opposed to Bradley's picks and decisions on what 23 players he is bringing with him to the Copa America and the Gold Cup. Remember, Donovan created this circus - there were other more professional ways to deal with this - still spineless - decision.
What is comfortable and what is preferred is the usual grind for professional athletes - they get paid loads of money (maybe not so much in the MLS, but Donovan was the "Designated Player" prior to Beckham's arrival), they play sport all day long, and its generally thought that they are essentially living their dream...so for a professional athlete to pull this prima donna attitude, in a league that is shaped so much towards fairness (read: MLS's salary and competitive structure), its beyond a double standard for Donovan to start to act like he's the next George Best.
What is the role of the football associations, outside of the MLS? Its obvious that coach Bob Bradley is not pending any consequences (If Donovan doesn't want to play Copa America, then he just cannot play the Gold Cup or more importantly the World Cup). Maybe FIFA should begin to hold the US as accountable as they do other more established countries...but only time will tell. Donovan may regain his moral code that he should have as captain and step up and either play every single national game that he is chosen for, or retire from international play to babysit his precious LA Galaxy more seriously.
When David Beckham comes to the Galaxy in a few weeks, he will have to call Landon Donovan his captain. What an embarassment.
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