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Candid Donovan Ready For Aggressive El Salvador Match
Landon Donovan and the USA will host El Salvador on Saturday, and the attacker thinks he knows what's needed to win.
Sep 2, 2009 5:29:37 PM
PARK CITY, Utah -- There isn't much beating around the bush with Landon Donovan.
Even when swarmed with reporters, microphones, and voice recorders -- like he was after a training session today with the United States team in Park City, Utah -- his answers are measured, concise, clear, and cutting. There's an ever-so-slight pause before he begins to give his answers, as he considers the implications of the questions asked him.
When, in the middle of one response, he says, “we're a better team,” than El Salvador, the team the U.S. will play on Saturday in Rio Tinto Stadium, it's not a jibe. It's his candid belief rising to the fore.
He may believe the U.S. has a stronger team than El Salvador, but that doesn't mean the Americans will win. Back in March, El Salvador rushed to a two goal lead over the U.S. in San Salvador before a dramatic late rescue act earned the USA a draw.
“We saw it as a game where we did most things right but the couple things we did poorly they made us pay for,” Donovan said of that game. “It's unfortunate that we turned it on so late. At the end of the day when you have a bad day it's better to get a point than to get nothing out of the game. But that's a game, looking back, we feel we should have won.”
This game, too, is a World Cup qualifier, with the U.S. looking for a bit of revenge to help cure a wounded ego from that match in March.
“What we want to do is be aggressive,” the Los Angeles Galaxy star said of how the U.S. will approach the match. “If you go out and play tentative and things don't go your way, you'd be pretty upset. We're going to go out, be aggressive, give everything we have. We're a better team. If we do that we're going to win the game.”
The 27-year-old showed more typical honesty when Goal.com asked him about the likelihood of qualifying for the World Cup with two games to spare. If the U.S. beats El Salvador and Trinidad & Tobago three days later, coupled with two losses for Mexico, a spot in South Africa will be assured.
“My expectation is that even if we do win these two games it's going to be pretty tight and come down to the last two games,” Donovan said, referring to the last two of the four games left in CONCACAF qualifying.
Making it to the World Cup would bring Donovan back to some crucial moments in his career. He burst onto the scene as a 20-year-old in the 2002 edition, helping lead the U.S. to an unexpected quarterfinal berth. Four years later, in 2006, the team didn't live up to expectations and crashed out in the group stages. Donovan credits that heartbreak with causing a mental shift in his professionalism. He says his recent form springs from that change in attitude. All year, Donovan has been in blistering form, dominating matches in the Confederations Cup for the national team and in Major League Soccer for the Galaxy.
“That was very disappointing, the ending to the 2006 World Cup,” Donovan said. “It made me wake up and realize that I can't just show up on game day and turn a switch and have everything go my way. It's more than that and it's about being a professional every day. It's taken a long time and I'm still in the midst of that, but I'm happy with my growth. I have more to go.”
When Donovan says he still has room to grow, it's not an empty platitude. It's him being candid.
Zac Lee Rigg, Goal.com
If you follow the U.S. Men's National Team, you'll love the dedicated page on Goal.com
Even when swarmed with reporters, microphones, and voice recorders -- like he was after a training session today with the United States team in Park City, Utah -- his answers are measured, concise, clear, and cutting. There's an ever-so-slight pause before he begins to give his answers, as he considers the implications of the questions asked him.
When, in the middle of one response, he says, “we're a better team,” than El Salvador, the team the U.S. will play on Saturday in Rio Tinto Stadium, it's not a jibe. It's his candid belief rising to the fore.
He may believe the U.S. has a stronger team than El Salvador, but that doesn't mean the Americans will win. Back in March, El Salvador rushed to a two goal lead over the U.S. in San Salvador before a dramatic late rescue act earned the USA a draw.
“We saw it as a game where we did most things right but the couple things we did poorly they made us pay for,” Donovan said of that game. “It's unfortunate that we turned it on so late. At the end of the day when you have a bad day it's better to get a point than to get nothing out of the game. But that's a game, looking back, we feel we should have won.”
This game, too, is a World Cup qualifier, with the U.S. looking for a bit of revenge to help cure a wounded ego from that match in March.
“What we want to do is be aggressive,” the Los Angeles Galaxy star said of how the U.S. will approach the match. “If you go out and play tentative and things don't go your way, you'd be pretty upset. We're going to go out, be aggressive, give everything we have. We're a better team. If we do that we're going to win the game.”
The 27-year-old showed more typical honesty when Goal.com asked him about the likelihood of qualifying for the World Cup with two games to spare. If the U.S. beats El Salvador and Trinidad & Tobago three days later, coupled with two losses for Mexico, a spot in South Africa will be assured.
“My expectation is that even if we do win these two games it's going to be pretty tight and come down to the last two games,” Donovan said, referring to the last two of the four games left in CONCACAF qualifying.
Making it to the World Cup would bring Donovan back to some crucial moments in his career. He burst onto the scene as a 20-year-old in the 2002 edition, helping lead the U.S. to an unexpected quarterfinal berth. Four years later, in 2006, the team didn't live up to expectations and crashed out in the group stages. Donovan credits that heartbreak with causing a mental shift in his professionalism. He says his recent form springs from that change in attitude. All year, Donovan has been in blistering form, dominating matches in the Confederations Cup for the national team and in Major League Soccer for the Galaxy.
“That was very disappointing, the ending to the 2006 World Cup,” Donovan said. “It made me wake up and realize that I can't just show up on game day and turn a switch and have everything go my way. It's more than that and it's about being a professional every day. It's taken a long time and I'm still in the midst of that, but I'm happy with my growth. I have more to go.”
When Donovan says he still has room to grow, it's not an empty platitude. It's him being candid.
Zac Lee Rigg, Goal.com
If you follow the U.S. Men's National Team, you'll love the dedicated page on Goal.com
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