Team USA coach Jurgen Klinsmann has been hitting back at critics questioning his decision to add players with dual citizenship to Team USA's squad for the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Klinsmann was heavily criticized for his decision to cut Landon Donovan, while naming foreign-born players to the squad, including five German-Americans -- Jermaine Jones, Fabian Johnson, Timmy Chandler, John Brooks, and Julian Green.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times , four of the five German-Americans on the USA squad were sons of U.S servicemen, and all four were raised in Germany, and use English as their second language.

Aside from the five German-Americans, Mix Diskerud, who has an American mother but was raised in Norway, and Aron Johannsson, who was born in the USA but grew up in Iceland, also made it into the final roster.

Klinsmann defended his decision, saying that he sees nothing wrong with leaning on players who grew up outside of the country they are representing. He pointed out that 1998 World Cup champion France did it before, along with Germany, who had dual nationals in their 2006 and 2010 World Cup rosters.

"It's a process other nations went through 10 to 20 years ago," Klinsmann said. "Now it's happening more and more with the United States. It gives us a new dimension."

Team USA Soccer president Sunil Gulati also backed Klinsmann's roster decision, saying that he doesn't agree with the point of view that players with little connection to the country they are representing should not take the spot of those who have been in the U.S. system for a long time. It was an argument raised by Bruce Arena, who was Team USA's coach in both the 2002 and 2006 World Cup tourneys.

"My very strong comment about it is that four of the five [German-American] players we're talking about here are American citizens by nature of having an American serviceman father. If Bruce Arena or anyone else wants to tell me they have less of a right to play for the United States, we strongly disagree," Gulati said.

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