There may not have ever been a better interview among US sports stars than Landon Donovan. I love that he says what he believes, and that he expresses confidence. I genuinely think that helps the team. He sometimes gets a bit carried away I think, and watching the really cool highlight collection of greatest USMNT moments at [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVSd3UHQceg"]YouTube- "Remembering" the greatest results and moments in US Soccer history[/ame] prompted me to recall three such occasions, and to assume there are many more: 1) The only one in this video -- his 1995 statement, at about 8:15 minutes in, that US soccer had arrived at the point that, outside of ... "maybe ... [puzzled pause] Brazil? ..." the US should expect to beat any team it plays. 2) His solemn, 2006 statement that, if he would only believe it, Eddie Johnson could win the golden boot at the 2006 WC. 3) His statement, just the other day that, other than Brazil, Spain, and Argentina, no team but the US could have come back from a 0 - 2 deficit to Slovenia. LD's our best player, this is exactly the kind of sentiment you want to see from him, and I indeed wish he were captain. I think this kind of thinking is positive for him and the team. And I love how outspoken he is, compared to most star athletes. But I find the way he delivers these sorts of proclamations, with such utter sincerity, to be a bit amusing, or at least worthy of note. It's a stark contrast to Demerit's comment to Wahl, prior to the England match, that the US would be happy to get a draw.
sorry, 2005. And he was wrong then. Because he didn't mean it in the hopeful sense; he genuinely believed that the US was at least as good if not better than any team "other than MAYBE" Brazil.
I hear you. My premise, though, is that he is repeatedly making these sorts of proclamations, without qualification and with apparent sincerity. For example, the comment about EJ: there's really no way to interpret that other than that LD thought him to be a guy who could feasibly win the golden boot. Same thing with his statement about our singular ability to erase a 2 goal deficit against Slovenia. Again, I love the confidence and think it helps. It's just an interesting and unique aspect of LD's makeup. To me anyway.