United States men’s national team head coach Bruce Arena told ESPN analyst Taylor Twellman prior to Sunday's friendly versus Serbia that Seattle Sounders forward Clint Dempsey will not be a part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifying matches in March against Honduras and Panama.
“Absolutely not,” Arena said via Twellman of the possibility of Dempsey playing in March. “He needs to take his health first and foremost and get games under his belt with Seattle. They’ll address it in the summer. But for those March qualifiers, there will be no Clint Dempsey.”
Dempsey, 33, is the U.