As the LA Galaxy prepared to play Toronto FC at BMO Field on Wednesday night, the big question was, "Where is Landon Donovan?" The answer: back in Southern California tending to a knee injury.
Donovan was ruled out of the Galaxy’s games at D.C. United last Saturday and Toronto FC on Wednesday due to knee inflammation, which also forced him to miss two training sessions prior to the DC match. He has been in Southern California all week and, as of Thursday, the club had yet to make a decision as to whether or not he would be in the game-day roster for Sunday’s match at Chicago (4 pm ET, TeleFutura), a Galaxy spokesperson told MLSsoccer.com.
However, because no final decisions on which players will be available against the Fire have been made, there’s still a chance Donovan may be called up.
The 29-year-old has not played in three of the Galaxy’s last four games. He missed the club’s 4-1 loss at Real Salt Lake on March 26 due to international duty.
Instead of traveling with the team in their current East Coast swing, Donovan stayed behind and has been receiving treatment on his injured knee. It is unclear whether he picked up the knock while with the national team or during his 90-minute shift in 1-0 victory over Philadelphia on April 2.
The Galaxy have found the net just twice and are 0-1-2 without Donovan in the lineup. However, Mike Magee, Donovan’s replacement for the DC match, started at left midfield and notched his first goal of the campaign.
Whether Donovan plays in Chicago or not, LA will be without a couple of key players.
Against Toronto, David Beckham picked up his fifth yellow card of the season and Juninho saw a red card. Each will be suspended for the game vs. the Fire.
