College football legend Landon Donovan has good news for American fans who may just be daring to dream: he believes the United States can actually win the World Cup.
With one important caveat: a lot has to fall into place first – starting with Wednesday’s victory over Round of 16 rivals Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Donovan was a key member of the American team that made an impressive run to the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup in Asia.
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“Can they? Yes,” Donovan said when asked by CNN Sports before the tournament whether the U.S. men’s team could win the World Cup.
“Obviously we have a good enough team to do well in the tournament. The hard part is that if you get out of your group, you’re now playing a pretty good team. If you win that game in the round of 16, you’re playing a good team. You win that game and you’re in the quarter-finals. You’re playing one of the big eight teams in the world.”
“So, can they beat all these teams? Yes, they absolutely can. Can they do it one after the other after another, get emotional about it? I think they can.
“We haven’t seen it, but is it possible? Absolutely possible,” he added.
The Americans are riding a wave after winning their first two World Cup matches for the first time since 1930. Team USA had already secured first place in Group D before their final loss to Turkey last week. This is already the United States’ most successful run at the World Championships since Donovan’s first appearance in 2002.
As encouraging as that run was in 2002, Stars and Stripes Since then I have not been able to get past the 1/8 finals.
The current generation of American players is led by AC Milan superstar Christian Pulisic, who is currently recovering from a recent calf injury. Donovan, who is America’s all-time leading scorer, says Pulisic’s importance to his country is crucial.
“He’s the only guy who can create a game out of nowhere. Players like that aren’t a dime a dozen in world football, right? They’re hard to find, so he can do it. But also, if he plays well, people should take notice of him, which gives other people the opportunity to play well or be able to score and create chances,” he said.
Donovan says if the U.S. wants to be successful in this year’s tournament, the home team will play an extremely important role.
“We saw the 2002 game against South Korea, we played Korea, our home country. They ended up making it to the semi-finals. They weren’t expected to make the semi-finals, so if our fans support us, I think anything is possible,” he said.
During his storied career, Donovan played in three World Cups, becoming his country’s all-time leading scorer at the tournament with a total of five goals.
But the 44-year-old also faced his own challenges just four years after the 2002 tournament. The US didn’t even make it out of group play in Germany in 2006. Donovan discussed the mental health issues and depression he faced after the tournament in his new book, Landon: A Memoir, released earlier this year.
“The 2006 World Cup I had was very bad and the first time I was criticized very harshly, it tore me up. I mean, it destroyed me and I had a two-week period where I couldn’t get off the couch, couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep. I was miserable at the time and I had to make a decision. I don’t want to feel that way anymore. So, if I’m going to continue playing football, and there were some things that my agent can do is confirm, there were times when I said I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do this anymore,” Donovan told CNN Sports.
Does Team USA have a real chance to win the World Cup?
Does Team USA have a real chance to win the World Cup?
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“But if I’m going to do it, I’m going to play in a way that’s meaningful and enjoyable to me, and I’m going to make sure I’m healthy off the field so I can handle those drops on the field,” he added.
To their great credit, Donovan and his teammates came back strong at the 2010 tournament in South Africa, where Donovan scored one of the most iconic goals in college soccer history, the stoppage-time winner against Algeria that sent the Americans through to the round of 16.
“It was so dramatic. After that we had two minutes to take the game to the next round, so basically that goal took us into the next round. We had to win. People were watching it, going through this emotional roller coaster and then finally it was like a Hollywood movie, finally the goal happens at the end and there’s a celebration and it was amazing,” he said.
Donovan has high hopes for the current U.S. team. Bosnia will be a stern test on Wednesday, but beyond that loud and passionate fan base, he believes there is something else the current crop of players should take inspiration from.
“I put on the jersey and I look down and I see the crest, but then you go out onto the field at the World Cup. In 2006 we played in Kaiserslautern against Italy and there’s an air force base in Germany and thousands of troops sang the national anthem. I still get goosebumps when I talk about it. It was incredible,” he said.