Landon Donovan didn’t actually root against the USMNT
After being made to look like he rooted for the USMNT to lose, Landon Donovan felt the need to clarify his comments.
Kevork Djansezian
Landon Donovan was understandably unhappy about getting cut from the United States ahead of the World Cup, and he shared some of his feelings about his controversial omission from the squad with the LA Times' Bill Plaschke. In Plaschke's story, he admits to hoping the team struggled, though he stops short of actively rooting against them. Emphasis added is ours.
“I’ll be completely honest, watching them play Azerbaijan, inside, part of me was thinking, I hope the game doesn’t go very well today. In my heart of hearts, I thought, if we get a 1-0 win and the team doesn’t perform well, that would feel good.”
While there’s some negative stuff there that no USMNT fan wants to hear from Donovan, the ‘if we get a 1-0 win’ part is important. He never said he wanted the team to lose, but that didn’t stop a lot of outlets that ran their own stories based on the quotes in the LA Times to state that Donovan rooted against the United States.
Apparently, the follow-up stories were bad enough that Donovan felt the need to clarify on Facebook.
It's disappointing when quotes are taken out of context and, as a result, misleading headlines are given unnecessary attention. I love this country and the US National Team and always will. Let's all focus on what's important - supporting the team and getting a win tomorrow against Belgium!
The backlash against Donovan’s comments was understandable, but it’s important to clarify that he didn’t actually say he wanted the USMNT to lose.
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