Speaking about reclaiming his spot on the USMNT squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Costa Rica and Mexico, Landon Donovan is pleased to be back.

The guys over at US soccer sat down with the all-time leading goalscorer for the USA as he spoke about what it feels like to be back in the mix for his nations biggest games.

Confident as ever after signing his new multi-year deal with the LA Galaxy last week, Donovan feels as though he belongs with Jurgen Kinsmann’s team as the creme of CONCACAF come calling.

“I really feel l like I deserve to be here. I feel like I’ve really earned it, and I also feel like I can really help,” Donovan said. “So even if I’m not playing, I think there’s ways I can be impactful and help the group. In a perfect world I get to play, but at the end of the day I want us to qualify and I want us to do well in the World Cup regardless of how much I contribute on the field.”

Do we agree with Donovan?

His outings in the Gold Cup put him on another level compared to the rest of the USA’s “reserve squad” and proved that he should be an integral part of Klinsmann’s World Cup plans going forward.

(MORE: What must happen for the US national team to qualify on Friday)

Yet will that be the case? I guess we will have a better idea on that when the starting lineup is announced Friday night down in Costa Rica but for right now you have to think Donovan will start on the bench. Yes, that may seem crazy but if Klinsmann is going to be loyal to the guys who have been around for the entire World Cup qualifying campaign when Donovan hasn’t, then he probably shouldn’t throw the LA Galaxy straight back into the staring XI.

In my opinion he should. Nothing against Graham Zusi but if you want to get a positive result in Costa Rica to set up qualification potentially being sealed against Mexico in Columbus next Tuesday, you start LD. His experience in these hostile environments will be positive on the rest of the squad an the 31-year-old is a born leader who lets his actions speak louder than words. He will be fired up more than ever to impress and this is crunch time in World Cup qualification. He’s been here, seen it, done it before.

Klinsmann needs his most experienced and deadliest players on the field in San Jose. Landon Donovan heads that list.

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