US soccer star Clint Dempsey has claimed that he does not know whether he will be playing at the World Cup 2018 in Russia. Following the retirement of Landon Donovan, Dempsey is one of the last remaining stars of this US national team. The 31-year-old forward has played for the likes of Fulham and Tottenham, while he recently returned to MLS with Seattle Sounders. After having been playing for the US national team since his debut in 2004, Dempsey has been an integral part of this team. Donovan’s recent retirement puts manager Klinsmann in a tough spot of having to find players to replace him.
In such a scenario, the exit of Dempsey will also be extremely tough for the national team to take. They come on the back of an impressive showing at the World Cup 2014 where they reached the last 16 round. This progression, despite the tough group and opponents, has made soccer an extremely popular sport in the last few months in United States. This is a nation where the likes of NBA and MLB continue to rule the roost. Dempsey has confirmed that he plans to continue playing for the national team at least for the next two years, but he also expressed his concern that Klinsmann may look towards the future by dropping him.
“I would like to continue playing for the US team, but that depends on performing and getting called in. For me, I would like definitely to push to play in Copa America. It’s a tournament that I always valued and wanted to participate in. Jurgen has to decide if I’m still part of his plans or not and we’ll go from there,” said the striker. He has made 109 appearances for US in the last decade and has scored 39 goals.