All the major international powers have a superstar player who people identify with, france has Zidane, germany has Ballack, holland has Van Nistelrooy...so on and so on.....the US needs one whether a player on the current team or some new blood...whichever the case....Who should it be?
I think first we need people who identify with superstar soccer players. it's like the chicken-egg paradox.
Well, the first step is to have an American playing in an attacking position for a dominant team. They can't only play, though, they need to be able to dominate. Then will you have a superstar American player. If lucky, this could be in 3-7 years.
And by dominant team, that means of the g-10 or whatever they are now. Larrson, stud that he is, did not attain superstar status with celtic because they're not big enough. Newcastle works for shearer, but would only for someone else if they made a deep run in the CL or won the league. IMO, you can do this with the top three in Manu, Chels, arse(maybe with pool still, but they're losing power), Juve, AC Milan, Inter and Roma, Real M, Barca, and b munich. I don't know that anyone else gets in the superstar club.
Uh... people... "superstar" means someone who is generally known to the public at large. You know, someone like Michael Jordan, Barry Bonds, Kobe Bryant. It's a popularity contest and has nothing to do with on-field performance. Which is why Rasheed Wallace is a superstar and Ben Wallace is wonder what he's got to do to get a box of Wheaties named after him. Sachin
THis is what i meant by superstar, a dynamic player on and off the field that fans can identify with. Not necessarily the BEST player, Donovan has a personality like wet mud.
I guess you missed his most recent interview on ESPN News a couple of days ago. Actually quite charming, joking around with the interviewer. Even talked about the Lakers.
if we can just get an American soccer player to be the subject of a publicized court case ala O.J., Ray Lewis, Kobe Bryant, then we will have a star in the making.
Donovan isn't the best player in any hemisphere. Unless you can draw a line where you get North America, Oceania, and Eastern Asia on one side, and Africa, Europe, and South America on the other.
Then you better tell that to all of those European scouts who are currently looking at Carlos Tevez, Fernando Cavenaghi, Luis Fabiano, Diego, Robinho,...............
Well i think Donovan is the best attacker in north america, but probably wont be a superstar. Thats Adu's job!
Donovan is great but not the best in North America. Radzinski for Canada is better as a finisher and plays in the premiership. Also if you geographicly mean North America then you must include Mexico who also have better finishers but nothing else really good on their team. I do agree when you say that it is Adu's job to be a superstar, he is more marketable and an overall way better personality not to mention he seems aware of what is going on during an interview while Donovan usually look confused or lost.
He may be a better finisher, but that doesn't necessarily make him a better player. Unless I'm mistaken (I don't follow him that much), I think he's only used in one position, whereas Donovan is versatile and can play (and play very well) in multiple positions.
Cavenaghi was the Argentinian that got turned into Chad Marshall's bitch right? I'll take Landon over all of em.
i dont really like it, but i think freddy is already the player that people all over the world identify with the us, i guess. he is probably more popular than any other us players.