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Eddie Johnson is bringing his Grown Ass Man show back to the United States national team. The striker revealed on Friday night that he had been called up to the U.S. squad after a two-year absence.
Thank you to the Seattle Sounders and my teammates family and friends for believing in me when everyone else didn't. #igotthecallupguys
— Eddie Johnson (@eddie_johnson7) October 6, 2012
The last time Johnson featured for the U.S. was on October 12, 2010. If he plays in the Americans' World Cup qualifier on Friday against Antigua and Barbuda it will be exactly two years since his last time in a U.S. shirt.
Since that last call-up, and really beginning before that, Johnson's career went down the drain. He spent time with Fulham, Cardiff, Aris and Preston North End between 2009 and 2011, failing to impress at any of the four stops. He looked nothing like the player who had eight career goals in World Cup qualifying and was once the next big thing in U.S. soccer.
Many people left Johnson's career for dead and when the Seattle Sounders took a chance on him this season, they were ridiculed by many. Johnson has repaid the Sounders' faith in him and then some this season, though. He has scored 15 goals and added two assists to play himself back into contention for a U.S. spot, and now he has it.
Johnson is back, but what can he do with the chance? He is still just 28-years-old and he has been deadly finding space in the middle to finish with his head, but that sort of play will require the kind of width from the U.S. that they have struggled to play with.
Jurgen Klinsmann will name his roster for the upcoming qualifiers against Antigua and Barbuda and Guatemala on Monday, but the team will have already gathered in Miami for training by then so the decisions will be made well before that.
The question now, if Johnson has indeed been called up, is which striker is left home. Odds are that it is Terrence Boyd, who has been relegated to bench duty with Rapid Vienna of late. We will know for sure in two days, but the roster is already coming together, starting with Johnson.