HAMBURG, Germany (AP) -- Landon Donovan kept getting advice, not
goals.
Coach Bruce Arena criticized his play in the opening loss to the
Czech Republic, and there was no shortage of teammates and staff
who spoke with him, attempting to prod the prodigy back on track.
Donovan responded in last weekend's exhilarating 1-1 tie against
Italy, and now heads into Thursday's must-win game against Ghana
with the confidence he lacked against the Czechs.
"I think he emerged in this game and demonstrated to the world,
but more importantly to his teammates, that he's a great player in
any kind of game," U.S. coach Bruce Arena said Monday. "Landon
did things against Italy I've never seen him do before. He was a
warrior on the field."
It's a pretty easy formula that will get the Americans to the
second round: win and get help. The simplest scenario would be a
U.S. victory coupled with an Italian win over the Czech Republic.
Other possibilities are remote.
So, as far as Donovan is concerned, all the fouls in the tie
with Italy Saturday night are forgiven.
"Listen, I'm rooting Italy for the rest of the week," he said.
"As far as I'm concerned, they're the nicest guys in the world."
At times it's hard to forget that while he's a two-time World
Cup veteran, he's still just 24. His 25 international goals are
third in U.S. history, behind Eric Wynalda (34) and Brian McBride
(30), but he's been blanked in 17 national team games since last
July 9 against Canada.
Scoring has proved to be troublesome at this World Cup for the
Americans, who lost to the Czechs 3-0 and came from behind against
Italy when Azzurri defender Cristian Zaccardo flubbed a clearance
attempt into his own net.
After two games, the Americans' shots-on-goal total stands at
one.
"It's not lost on the U.S. that we haven't scored a goal,"
Donovan said.
If the Americans make the second round, they likely would face
defending champion Brazil. And they'll have to play Ghana without
the experience of defender Eddie Pope and midfielder Pablo
Mastroeni, both suspended following their ejections Saturday.
As time passes, and others retire, get hurt or sit out, Donovan
is becoming one of the more experienced players on the field. In
the weeks leading up to the World Cup, he often talked about
expectations people have for him, and it was unclear whether the
lofty goals were an incentive to meet or a burden to bear.
"The last time it was more I could be the kid and just help out
where I could," he said. "Now there's a lot more dependance on me
to perform consistently."
After the Czech Republic debacle, Arena took a volley at Donovan
that was harder than any American shot during the game.
"Landon showed no aggressiveness tonight," his coach said.
Donovan spoke with many people in the next few days, including
Arena, assistant coaches and Frankie Hejduk, who was on the World
Cup roster before he injured a knee.
"Or they talked to me, I should say," Donovan corrected
himself. "It was pretty clear what the message was: Be more
aggressive, and you're good enough to play at this level."
With his hip fakes, sudden bursts and jig-jag runs, the
Californian can take over a game, whether he's at forward or
midfield. Against the Czechs, he couldn't find any space.
Arena keeps telling Donovan to be pro-active, to find the ball
if it's not coming to him.
"It was frustrating because I knew I took a lot of heat for the
Czech game," Donovan said. "But I didn't feel like I played
terribly. I just didn't get enough of the ball. And part of that is
me, and part of that is not getting the ball, part of it is it's
not bouncing the right way."
What Arena told Donovan isn't quite clear.
"I'm not sure I know the specifics because I had to talk to a
lot of players after the first game," Arena joked.
"But I believe in Landon. I think he's a great player. It's not
like he's been through all the wars and he's fully developed at the
international level. He's got a lot of great years ahead of him."
Donovan was more active against the Italians, especially with
wide-open spaces in the second half following the ejections of
three players. He fed McBride for what nearly was a go-ahead goal
in the 63rd minute, and pressed the Azzurri with counters.
After all the running around, the four days off between games
seems short.
