Landon Donovan wants US star banned for life after rejecting national team call up

Former United states captain Landon Donavan has called for Noahkai Banks to be banned from playing for the national team after a fresh snub ahead of the World Cup.

Banks, who plays for Augsburg in the Bundesliga, has represented the US at various youth levels - including the Under 20's.

But while he was born in Honululu, Hawaii, Banks is also eligible to play for Germany through his mother.

The US, one of the World Cup host nations alongside Mexico and Canada, have upcoming fixtures against Belgium and Portugal as part of their preparation for the tournament in the summer.

Centre-back Banks was invited to be part of their squad and training camp for the March fixtures by Mauricio Pochettino but turned down the call-up as he is still unsure about where his international future lies.

Noahkai Banks has received just one call-up to the US national team. Image: Getty

He was previously in the squad for a friendly with Japan in New Jersey in September but remained on the bench and then did not get the call for October and November's internationals.

Former Bayern Munich and Everton star Donovan, who played 157 times for the US, believes Banks ought to be blacklisted from selection if he is unable to be commit at this stage.

"From the federation’s standpoint, and particularly Matt Crocker, who makes these decisions, if someone does not want to play for your country, good riddance," Donovan said, speaking to former US goalkeeper and teammate Tim Howard on the Unfiltered Soccer podcast.

"Goodbye. And I’m not mad at him. He can make his decision. But now, I don’t care about you anymore. I don’t."

Continuining his strong views, Donavan added: "I don’t care about Noahkai - if he does not wanna play for the U.S., totally fine. I get it.

"If he feels more German, I’ve always said, make the decision where you’re passionate. Clearly, if he wanted to be a part of the U.S. team - he’s been in many camps, Tim. He’s been in camps. He’s been in youth camps. The federation has been on him for a long time. And this whole notion of us, like, begging him to play for our country is bulls***."

The 19-year-old moved to Germany as a young child and came through the youth ranks at Augsburg before breaking into first-team and featuring eight times last season.

This term was to be his breakthrough though, with Banks establishing himself as a regular and playing 22 times.

Banks did say "there's not a thought of switching" to Germany at one point but in more recent times has said he was "torn" over the "difficult" decision.

He also said he wanted to "think carefully" and involve his family in the decision.

“It’s a difficult decision regarding my nationality. I’m very torn,” he said in February.

“I’m in contact with both the USA and Germany and both national coaches.

“I hopefully have a long career ahead of me, so I want to think carefully and speak with my family. I don’t want to make it dependent on a World Cup. I’m just happy to be in this position and to be able to make this decision. We’ll see what happens.”