Tesho Akindele surprise omission from USMNT roster, could still get call

Tesho Akindele was supposed to be in the United States team for their friendlies against Colombia and Ireland, or at least that's what the reports said. Multiple outlets published that he would included on the team, but when U.S. Soccer released the roster for the matches on Monday, Akindele was nowhere to be found.

Akindele is notable because he has the option to play for Canada or the U.S. He was born in Canada, then moved to the U.S. at the age of nine and recently applied for citizenship and after a strong rookie season for FC Dallas, both countries wanted him. He was originally called up to Canada for their friendlies this week and reportedly was set to accept it until the U.S. said they wanted him and that he would be on the American team for these friendlies.

Clearly, either multiple reports were wrong or something changed. It could be that Akindele changed his mind and didn't want to decide who to play for it. It could also be a matter of FC Dallas still being in the playoffs.

Dallas will play the Seattle Sounders on Monday night in the second leg of their Western Conference semifinal tie and, if Dallas wins, Akindele will have the Western Conference final first leg on November 23. He may not want to go straight from London and Dublin, where the U.S. friendlies are, to the U.S. and have just four days before his playoff match. Some MLS players will likely play in just the first friendly so they can prepare for the playoff match, but those players all have experience with the U.S. Bringing Akindele in for the first time, but just for a couple days would be tough.

If that is the case, Klinsmann may be waiting to see whether Dallas beats the Sounders or not. If they do, he's not on the team and could get a call for January camp. If Dallas loses and are eliminated from the playoffs, Akindele could be added to the roster and make the flight to Europe for the friendlies.

The Akindele situation has been strange, but that's often the case with dual nationals. Toss in the MLS Cup Playoffs and it's bound to be especially odd. Regardless, Akindele is in the picture somewhat, and could be completely in by Tuesday, or maybe January, or never.