Landon has a *chance* to be a first choice player for the first decade of this century, BUT... Landon still isn't one of the top 50 players in the world and in fact Landon probably isn't even in the top 50 players in the Americas. Is he even the best player for the US? I'm not sure you can declare him better than JOB, Reyna, Friedel, Keller, or even DMB. He's right there in that group currently and possibly the best of them, but not clearly so. In hype Landon is king though.
Adu has more hype than donovan. But, maradona nor Zidane won two WC's, and Maradona didn't win a CL. Good point, BenReilly, to become an all-time great, you have to have played in the US. Pele, Ramos, Beckenbauer, Cruyff, Donovan, and Tim Howard. Man, those are the all-time greats. Not some Maradona or Zidane. Who are they?
Yeah, it's a pity that Maradona ruined his life. No, not the drugs, the obesity, getting tossed from the WC. Had he only played on the big stage, MLS, he would have gone down as an all-time great. It's a pity. By the way, earlier in this thread someone said that I forgot the . I didn't. I firmly belive this. Pele came to America to prove his worth. Maradona didn't. Zidane didn't, and we see how poorly he did in this World Cup. I'm sick of these European and South Americans playing in bogus second rate foreign leagues and acting like we should care. Until they can do it on the big stage, we shouldn't pay any attention. I'm proud that Donovan has the courage to stick it out in America. It will be a tough ride, but at least he didn't take the easy way out.