Clint Dempsey's Major League Soccer season is finished, and his availability for a pair of World Cup qualifiers this fall is in doubt because of an irregular heartbeat.
Seattle Sounders general manager Garth Lagerwey announced Tuesday that his star forward will not play again in 2016. The Sounders' final regular-season game is scheduled for Oct. 23, and they are currently sitting outside a playoff spot at seventh in the Western Conference.
More important to United States soccer fans, Dempsey's condition puts his status for the first two games of the CONCACAF hexagonal qualifiers in jeopardy. The U.S. will host Mexico on Nov. 11 and travel to Costa Rica on Nov. 15.
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The Sounders announced Aug. 26 that Dempsey was "undergoing medical evaluations" for an irregular heartbeat. The team then said he had an undisclosed surgical procedure in early September and expressed optimism that he would return this season. But the 33-year-old stopped training with the club last week.
Dempsey's 52 career international goals are second only to Landon Donovan's 57 for the U.S.
