U.S. Men’s National Team v. Ecuador, East Hartford, Connecticut, 10.10.14: Landon Donovan’s Last U.S. National Team Game

Barring a comeback, Landon Donovan has played his last game for the U.S. national team. I suspect most U.S. fans wish it hadn’t ended the way it did Friday night, with a friendly in a nondescript stadium in East Hartford, Connecticut, just a few months after Donovan had been cut from the 2014 World Cup team. Even if Donovan had scored the game winner, or scored at all, such a setting is not the stuff of storybooks.

When U.S. soccer announced in August that Donovan would make a final appearance for the U.S., he appeared to be in a no-win situation. If he played for Jurgen Klinsmann in a meaningless match after Klinsmann had cut him from the World Cup team—and after Klinsmann’s son had mocked Donovan on Twitter the day of the cuts—Donovan surely would lose face. If he declined the offer, he’d appear petty, like a child who picks up his ball and goes home after not getting his way.

After some initial reluctance, Donovan of course opted to play, which speaks well of him. In the days before the Ecuador game, he was candid about his relationship with Klinsmann (“Well, we don't have of a much a relationship after this summer, obviously”), but under the circumstances he was admirably restrained, in fact the opposite of the selfish brat many have painted him to be over the course of his career. When he was subbed off in the 42^nd minute on Friday, he shook hands with Klinsmann, and they shared a distant, fleeting hug. Donovan’s gesture, while obviously not brimming with affection, was far more than many of us would have granted Klinsmann had we been in Donovan’s place. ESPN announcer Taylor Twellman summed up the image well: “True professionals, shaking hands and moving on.”

Before he did move on from Klinsmann and the national team Friday night, Donovan looked as dangerous as anyone on the field. In the 4^th minute, he played an integral part in the buildup that led to the U.S.’s only goal, breaking down the U.S. left with the ball at his feet and lofting a pass across the face of goal to Jozy Altidore at the back post. Altidore settled the ball and sent a short back-pass to DeAndre Yedlin, who picked out Mix Diskerud near the penalty spot. Diskerud’s crisp near post finish capped an excellent team goal. Though Yedlin and Altidore got the assist, Diskerud made a beeline to Donovan and the two embraced. They were immediately joined by their delighted teammates.

One can only wonder what the celebrations would have been like had Donovan scored, which he nearly did on three occasions. Just minutes after the goal, Donovan snapped a header down into the turf but the shot was saved off the line. In the 38^th minute Altidore picked out Donovan at the top of the box and the latter dragged a shot wide far post. Donovan’s best opportunity, though, came in the 25^th minute, when Altidore anticipated his run with a nifty no-look back-heel pass. Under pressure, Donovan toe-poked a shot that looked to be going in but glanced off the inside of the far post. After the ball was eventually cleared, Donovan lay on the field, grabbing his head in dismay and disbelief as ESPN’s Ian Darke observed, “Well, maybe it’s just not going to be.”

Altidore did all he could to help Donovan get a goal, and in general the U.S. target forward had a strong game. Afterwards, he remarked, “I tried to set [Donovan] up a few times and do what he’s always done for me. He’s such a good player, you can still see that right away, and he has a smell for the game that other Americans don’t have. We’re going to miss that.” Donovan has assisted on 6 of Altidore’s 23 national team goals.

Regrettably, perhaps the most significant event in this game was an injury to young U.S. winger Joe Gyau, a powerful speedster who grew up in the D.C. area and now plays for Borussia Dortmund. Gyau played well in the first half of last month’s friendly against the Czech Republic. Against Ecuador, he didn’t get much of a chance to shine, grabbing at his knee during a dribbling run in the 13^th minute, and falling to the ground at midfield to call for a substitute a minute or two later. Gyau was later seen on the sideline on crutches, with an ice pack on his left knee. At the least, he will miss this Tuesday’s U.S. game against Honduras.

Yedlin and Diskerud turned in the strongest performances of the night for the U.S. In addition to his goal, Diskerud covered much ground and was notably effective applying defensive pressure, winning a number of challenges in the center of the field, as he did in the 34^th minute when he dispossessed an Ecuador player to start a U.S. buildup that ended with a Greg Garza shot.

Diskerud and Yedlin were two of only four U.S. players to go the full 90 minutes against Ecuador, and Yedlin was the only MLS player to do so. Yedlin’s club team, the Seattle Sounders, are likely not pleased about their starting right back playing an entire national-team friendly this late in the MLS season, as Seattle is in a fight for the best record in the league, which would give them home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. To top off the pain of Yedlin playing the entire game, the Sounders were upset by the Vancouver Whitecaps while the U.S.-Ecuador match was unfolding.

Still, Sounders owners and management must be pleased with the quality of Yedlin’s performance on Friday. He was in my opinion the U.S. man of the match. For the first time while wearing a U.S. jersey, he played winger, not fullback. And his performance lays a solid foundation for the case that Yedlin—who can sometimes be a defensive liability—should play in the midfield rather than on the back line. Apart from a bad ball right to Ecuador’s keeper in the 2^nd minute, and getting beaten by Ecuador’s left back in the 77^th, Yedlin was excellent. He was confident and effective with the ball at his feet, and his passing was intelligent and accurate. He could have had at least two more assists than he did on the night, one chance coming on a great cross to Bobby Wood at the back post in the 66^th minute, and another in the 74^th minute on a similar ball to Altidore. Yedlin is just the kind of electric, smart, and technical young player the U.S. needs now that Donovan has retired.

I thought it might be fitting to end this post with a quote from former MLS MVP and Guatemala international Carlos Ruiz. Ruiz’s quote may never have been transcribed before, and occurred on a March 7, 2013 MLS Extratime Radio podcast, about five months after the U.S. had eliminated Guatemala from 2014 World Cup qualification. The U.S. had struggled somewhat in the semi-final round of CONCACAF qualification, and Donovan was in the middle of his hiatus from soccer, so his future with the U.S. team was uncertain. Ruiz’s comments show the respect Donovan commanded from one tough CONCACAF competitor, someone who (like Donovan, coincidentally) scored 57 international goals. Ruiz said: “Definitely it’s not the same like, a couple of years ago. It’s not the same. Landon is that piece in the national team, and nobody is going to play like he plays in the national team, you know. So, I hope Landon is healthy and can play with the national team. But it’s not the same. You know, the respect, like in Central American players we have for the United States in the past is not the same in this moment.”