It looks like Dempsey will have to settle for sharing the USMNT goals scored record with Landon Donovan as he announces his retirement effective immediately. https://www.soundersfc.com/post/2018/08/29/clint-dempsey-announces-retirement-professional-soccer
Well that's expected but too bad. And honestly I think it's poetic and appropriate the 1 and 1a best players in our country's history end up tied.
He is one of the 3 vets from the last cycle (along with Howard and Beasley) who deserves a sendoff game. Give him 20 minutes or so against Mexico.
+1 As I was thinking about it, in my head I was just assuming that it was natural and right that they be tied, but then as I thought more about it I realized that Clint really actually made a greater impact at the WC and Club level than Donovan when it came to the top tier. Dempsey's the only American to ever score in three consecutive World Cups, and he played a key role in the team reaching the knockouts in '10 and '14, and nearly in '06 (he scored the equalizer before the ref gifted Ghana the game), add in what he did with Fulham/in England, including the wonder goal in the knockouts of the Europa Cup, and it actually becomes harder to argue in favor of Donovan. But, and it's a big but, Donovan essentially carried the US from '02-'10, while Dempsey always was a sort of second in command, Sous Chef figure. And when Donovan played in the MLS, whatever team he played on typically either won the title, or made a deep run. Add in some nice play with Everton and it gets closer. The fact that these two guys ended up tied really does seem Poetic when you realize that virtually every single moment that has mattered for a US Men's National Team fan since the end of the 1990-1998 era bears the imprint of Donovan, or Dempsey, or both, it really is fitting. Other than Howard against Belgium in a heroic effort, it really does feel like the past 16 years,every truly special moment involved one or both of them. Love that they finished tied on goals, heart broken that both of them missed their goodbye World Cups due to totally incompetent coaching, gutless play from their teammates (this impacted Dempsey, rather than Donovan obviously) and many, many other issues, virtually none of which have anything to do with either of them (other than Donovan's semi-retirement from international play before he came back).
Didn't donovan score like 10-15 penalty kicks? Dempsey is the real top scorer, get outta here PKs never being mentioned!
Excellent point, I didn't think of that. They still count, but goals from the run of play always carry more weight (not dependent on ref's making competent decisions (which is so freaking erratic-hell, 2002 World Cup against Germany and 2003 Confed Cup against Turkey we were robbed, just to mention two in major tournaments back to back).
So difficult to evaluate. I think Dempsey was mentally tougher, more of a fighter, brawler type mentality, Donovan was more of a king of moments guy: if you needed a miracle, Donovan would score it, or deliver the assist on it. If a goal seemed impossible, Dempsey would find it: against Ghana in '06, the howler against England in '10, and the goal he was robbed of against Algeria in '10, and the instaGOAL! he scored against Ghana too immediately grab the Ghana Curse and hurl it off the field and into a metaphorical garbage can etc. When I think of them, I think of Dempsey as the more crucial goal scorer, but Donovan as the more crucial element (it's why so many felt w/o Donovan after his retirement, the team would collapse, and that's pretty much what happened, especially after Dempsey was lost to a heart condition during the fall and winter of '16-'17). Man, it's just REALLY HARD, because in a way, Dempsey was just a rock, you could count on Dempsey no matter what from what, 2006-2016, Donovan was more mercurial, you could always count on him to show up, but his play was a bit more uneven and his mentality was never remotely what Dempsey's was (the Ghana match in 2006 perfectly exemplifies this), he was just more fragile.... We were very lucky to have them both, and largely at the same time. Imagining the USMNT 2002-2018 without them is to imagine a team that probably fails to qualify for multiple World Cups rather than just one.
I was trying to wait an appropriate amount of time before commenting that I can't wait for his tell-all memoir.... I failed.
I remember being so excited about Dempsey being able to play ahead of WC 2006. I will never forget my feeling in the stadium when he scored in Nurnberg v Ghana. As others have said, so many great plays over the past 12 years have been due to him. Legend forever
Congratulations on a great career! Like Donovan, Dempsey should have had a 4th World Cup. Dempsey is the greatest goalscorer in US history and the guy who inspired me to wake up at 8 AM every Saturday to search for grainy, malware-infested internet video streams of Fulham.
Eh I don't know if Clint ever does that. I mean he'd be smart to he'll make a lot of money on it but he doesn't strike me as the person to share that info.
There are times and places to discuss all that a player was and did. But for me, in this thread, I just simply want to thank him for his service to our national team. He did great things for us in a US jersey and I wish him the best of luck in the next chapter of his life.
Career highlight: intentionally missing the late pk to preserve the dos a cero scoreline against Mexico a few years ago
What a simultaneously sad and nostalgic day. To me, the 2nd best player in USMNT history, which I don't in any way mean as a slight. Clint Dempsey burst onto the national team unexpectedly in late 2004 / early 2005, cemented his place as one of our most important players by 2007, and while he was often second fiddle to Landon Donovan from 2005-2011, he really reached another level and came into his own as our most dominant player from 2012-2016/17, particularly after Jurgen Klinsmann moved him to a full-time withdrawn forward role. Since 2012, Dempsey has recorded 59 caps and 33 goals with the USMNT. That's an absolutely prolific scoring rate for any international forward. During those 5-6 years, it often seemed like our entire attack not only ran through him, but also depended on him. And he delivered, time after time. Even on occasions when he would drift out of a match or get marked out of a game, he would conjure up a moment of brilliance and score the goal that made the difference. Beyond his tangible impact on the team's success during the past 14 years, I appreciate the intangibles that Dempsey brought to the team and to US soccer as a whole. He brought a swagger, a blue-collar attitude, a "put up or shut up" mentality, and a "take no shit" approach that inspires me and a lot of US fans. He trail-blazed paths in Europe (definitely our most successful Yank Abroad field player of all time), leading a Premier League club in goals scored for like 4-5 consecutive seasons, including that spectacular 2011/12 season when he finished 4th in the entire league in goals scored. He scored "big" goals in big moments (that punch in the face against Ghana in the 1st minute of our 1st match of the 2014 World Cup to exorcise our demons and get the Ghana bogey off of our backs, and his subsequent celebration continues to stand out to me as one of the single greatest moments in USMNT history). I'll miss you, Clint. Thank you for everything you've done for US soccer. You will always be remembered as a legend and as one of the two best soccer players this country has produced (to date).
I agree with everything you had to say besides saying Dempsey had a better impact in the World Cup than Donovan. That’s not true at all. Not even close. But everything else you said, you nailed it.
Dempsey was one of those players who you could not help but cheer for. At Fulham, he was undervalued by multiple new managers. Through grit and perseverance, he kept forcing himself into the lineup. When he went to Tottenham, many (including a few vocal posters here) thought he was over his head. Then he forces himself into their lineup, too. With the US, he was one of those guys who loved it when the lights shined brightest. The bigger the opponent, the more he loved the game. Off the field, Clint is as quiet and reserved, and funny, as he is competitive and combative on the field. Congratulations to an amazing career, Deuce.
I loved it when Dempsey went crazy at the end of the Brazil group stage game in 2009. The attempted rabona and then 'megging someone shortly after that. It was the beginning of the US turnaround in that tourney.