News: USMNT GOAT Player Landon Donovan coming out of retirement

Discussion in 'USA Men: News & Analysis' started by ussoccer97531, Sep 8, 2016.

  1. Bob Morocco

    Bob Morocco Member+

    Aug 11, 2003
    Billings, MT
    ",after the GC or Confed..." was intended to modify the previous clause. Both those events happened "after the WC".
     
  2. Clint Eastwood

    Clint Eastwood Member+

    Dec 23, 2003
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    I have done this search as well, but it was a few years ago. I looked into the backgrounds of the players with 50 international goals, and none of them had 50 assists listed. Of course, assists as a stat weren't collected for a while so its tough.

    There are those that insist Pele racked up a ton of assists. If you watch highlights from games that were actually recorded, you can see a ton of assists. He had 10 assists in the World Cup, which we can of course count.

    I think at the time I looked at the exclusive list of 50 goals and 150 caps.........and LD was the only one with 50 assists. So I say Landon is the only player in the history of world football with 50 goals, 50 assists, and 150 caps.

    I'd also argue that the definition of an assist is different for different people. Americans scorers tend to be liberal when counting what an assist is.
     
  3. Footsatt

    Footsatt Member+

    Apr 8, 2008
    Michigan
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Just a quibble, but the US lost the CONCACAF Cup not the Confed Cup.

    Easy mistake to make, but just to make sure we are all talking about the same thing...

    Confed Cup = Intercontinental Competition – Held every 4 years
    Confed Cup is contested by the holders of each of the six FIFA confederation championships (UEFA, CONMEBOL, CONCACAF, CAF, AFC, OFC), along with the FIFA World Cup holder and the host nation.

    CONCACAF Cup = Regional Playoff – Held every 4 years if needed
    If the same team wins the 2 Gold Cups between each WC cycle then the CONCACAF Cup is not needed. Winner of the C'CAF Cup wins entry into the Confed Cup.
     
  4. olephill2

    olephill2 Member+

    Oct 6, 2006
    Club:
    Watford FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Thanks, @Clint Eastwood. This is good insight. Do you suspect Landon is the only "modern" player (i.e. since assists have been officially tracked) to record 50 goals and 50 assists, regardless of whether that player also hit the 150 cap mark?

    If so, that is a truly incredible achievement and arguably positions him as one of the very greatest playmakers at the international level of all-time, regardless of country.

    Leo Messi has a chance to get there. According to this site, he has 36 international assists and 56 goals. By comparison to Landon, Cristiano Ronaldo has 61 goals but only 23 international assists in 133 caps.
     
  5. Clint Eastwood

    Clint Eastwood Member+

    Dec 23, 2003
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    When I was working on it there were a couple of modern players I couldn't find data for. So I'm not 100% convinced.
    Pretty sure, but not 100% convinced.

    Only 49 players have scored 50 international goals, and you can eliminate almost everybody from the 50 assist level pretty easily. But there are some pretty obscure players amongst those 49. For instance, the Asian players that rack up goals. Ali Ashfaq of the Maldives has 52 goals. How many assists does he have? Hell if I know. Sunnil Chhetri of India? Almost every one of his goals was in these games against Asian minnows. Do they even keep track of assists at an India versus Maldives Nehru Cup match? Kiatisuk Senamaung of Thailand has 71 goals, all against the Brunei's of world football....................how many assists? Pftptfptfpt

    Those are the two troublesome categories. The players from early years when assists weren't tracked, and these modern obscure players.
     
  6. gunnerfan7

    gunnerfan7 Member+

    San Jose Earthquakes
    United States
    Jul 22, 2012
    Santa Cruz, California
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It was just a typo. I know the difference between the Confed Cup and the new competition that is now called the CONCACAF Cup. Before, of course, we just had off-year GC's worth nothing. I'm glad the format changed. Now every Gold Cup is worth something.
     

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