Landon Donovan, widely considered the greatest men’s player in the history of U.S. soccer, was cut from the U.S. World Cup team Thursday as coach Jurgen Klinsmann trimmed his final roster to 23 players for next month’s tournament in Brazil.

Donovan, 32, is the all-time leader for the national team with 57 goals and 58 assists. He possesses great vision on the field and a flair for the dramatic, but many have questioned whether his desire and skill have ebbed. He took a self-imposed sabbatical from soccer early in 2013, missing the start of the Americans’ World Cup qualifying campaign, but he had appeared to have returned to Klinsmann’s good graces in the past year.

Still, referring to Donovan, Klinsmann has said that roster spots for the World Cup in Brazil must be earned and would not be handed out as a career achievement award.

Six other players cut from the preliminary roster Thursday: forward Terrence Boyd, midfielders Joe Corona and Maurice Edu, and defenders Brad Evans, Clarence Goodson and Michael Parkhurst.

The 23-man U.S. roster will include forwards Jozy Altidore, Clint Dempsey, Aron Johannsson and Chris Wondolowski; midfielders Kyle Beckerman, Alejandro Bedoya, Michael Bradley, Brad Davis, Mix Diskerud, Julian Green, Jermaine Jones and Graham Zusi; defenders DaMarcus Beasley, Matt Besler, John Brooks, Geoff Cameron, Timmy Chandler, Omar Gonzalez, Fabian Johnson and DeAndre Yedlin; and goalkeepers Brad Guzan, Tim Howard and Nick Romando.

—N.Y. Times News Service

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Bellotti to enter hall of fame

EUGENE — Former University of Oregon coach Mike Bellotti will join the College Football Hall of Fame as one of 16 members of the induction class of 2014 announced Thursday by the National Football Foundation.

Bellotti’s 14-year career as head coach at Oregon ran through the 2008 season and concluded with him being the university’s winningest coach of all time with a record of 116-55. He becomes the school’s third coach to be elected to the hall, joining Hugo Bezdek (1906, 1913-17), who was inducted in 1954, and Len Casanova (1951-66), who was inducted in 1977.

“It’s a very humbling experience because you recognize all the players and all the coaches and all the administrators and all the boosters at every college I worked at,” said the 63-year-old Northern California native, who was head coach at California State, Chico (1984-88) before joining the UO staff as offensive coordinator under Rich Brooks in 1989. “It’s truly an honor and there are a lot of people I need to thank.”

Bellotti guided the Ducks to 12 bowl games in 14 seasons.

—Staff and wire reports