Actually an international competition like the Gold Cup is more like playoffs or important competitions to that effect. It's crunch time for a short while that means something. I could see any player in a profesional league get an excuse for a non emergency during regular season but no way during important comeptition. An once again I'm not referring to the Donovan/ Dempsey situation especifically but to the idea that family always come first even in non emergency situations that are totally manageable.