Jurgen Klinsmann Making All the Right Moves for Landon Donovan's USMNT Farewell

Jurgen Klinsmann and Landon Donovan have never had the best of relationships, and they likely never will.

But with the 32-year-old's farewell to the United States men's national team approaching Friday night against Ecuador, Klinsmann, 50, is doing all the right things to make sure Donovan receives the appropriate send-off. 

We now know what that will entail. Klinsmann confirmed that Donovan will play about 30 minutes in the game at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut, per Soccer by Ives' Ives Galarcep: 

U.S. soccer also announced that Donovan will be handed the captain's armband for the match, which will be remembered mostly for the departure of the legend and not much else:

Regardless of what you may think about the relationship between coach and manager, the 30 minutes we will see Donovan play Friday is a perfect amount of time. 

Klinsmann is in the process of molding the core of his team for the new World Cup cycle, and the inclusion of Donovan for Friday's game is a bit of a bump in the road for the German coach. 

In the first friendly of the new cycle against the Czech Republic, Klinsmann wasted no time in his search for his best team in 2018, as young stars Joe Gyau, Mix Diskerud and Julian Green featured in the 1-0 victory in Prague. 

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For his second match in charge in the buildup to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, Klinsmann has once again opted to bring in a fresh set of faces. 

Only four players available for selection Friday night are over the age of 30. Only one, goalkeeper Brad Guzan, is expected to play a major role over the next four years for the Yanks. 

The next four years are about DeAndre Yedlin, John Brooks, Luis Gil, Gyau and Green, who will see plenty of time in the red, white and blue in the near future. 

For Donovan, the game plan against Ecuador works to his pleasing as well with the Los Angeles Galaxy in the middle of the Major League Soccer playoff race. 

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By playing Donovan for less than a half, Klinsmann will be able to give the legendary player a fitting departure from the national team. He'll also make Galaxy boss Bruce Arena happy by keeping Donovan fresh. 

Donovan is expected to feature for the Galaxy against FC Dallas on Sunday at Toyota Stadium before he enters a critical home-and-home series to end the season with the Seattle Sounders. That pair of games will decide who wins the Supporters' Shield and the top seed in the Western Conference.

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Not seeing Donovan play one last time with stars like Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley and Tim Howard is a bit disappointing, but the all-time scoring leader for the U.S. lost the power to make that decision after his sabbatical to Cambodia in 2013. 

While we will talk about that choice made by Donovan, and the following decisions made by Klinsmann to leave the player off a few rosters for important games and the World Cup, that discussion will be put to the back burner for one night as Donovan's international career is celebrated on home soil. 

Maybe one day down the road Donovan and Klinsmann will make up, but for now it is just nice to see the two play nice in order to give Donovan the send-off he deserves. 

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