Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports
The United States got off to a dream start against Ghana in its opening World Cup match, scoring after just 30 seconds, but a costly injury could derail the Americans’ dream of advancing past the group stage. Striker Jozy Altidore, the clear first-choice at the position alongside Clint Dempsey after coach Jurgen Klinsmann didn’t name Landon Donovan to the team, went down clutching his leg with a strained left hamstring.
Altidore was taken away on a stretcher, clearly in agony. He was replaced by 23-year-old Aron Jóhannsson, who is making his first appearance in a World Cup. Jóhannsson has fewer than 10 caps with the senior national team, but has scored two goals in those limited appearances.
The popular reaction to Altidore’s injury among fans and analysts — and the first thing ESPN analyst Taylor Twellman mentioned seconds after Altidore went down — is that Donovan should have been named to the United States’ 23-man roster for unpredictable situations like this. If Altidore is forced to miss time, the United States will have to rely on unproven players like Jóhannsson and Chris Wondolowski to fill the void. Both of those players have scored goals at the club level, in the Eredivisie and MLS, respectively, but neither has much experience on an international stage (though they both fit in the U.S.’s new formation better than Donovan would).
Landon Donovan would not save the United States in Brazil. Klinsmann is working hard to expel that type of wishful, nostalgic thinking. When Klinsmann cut Donovan, the 32-year-old hadn’t scored a single goal in MLS in 2014, and he simply doesn’t fit with the rest of the roster. He’s the greatest player the United States has ever had, but that doesn’t earn him a lifetime starting spot.
Donovan was unquestionably great in 2010, but if you remember, the United States was eliminated in the round of 16. In 2014, Klinsmann went in a new direction, filling the squad with youth and potential. Klinsmann admitted the U.S. cannot win the World Cup this year, so instead he’s choosing to give the United States a new identity, and build for the future.
No one could have predicted that Altidore would be sidelined in the opening game. Even if he’s gone for the rest of the tournament, Klinsmann can replace him with the players he wants to define the national team for the next decade. The U.S. can’t move forward in the future if it keeps clinging to the past.
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