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U.S. men's national team all-time leading scorer Landon Donovan cast doubt on the mental fortitude of Mauricio Pochettino's squad following their 5–2 thrashing at home against Belgium over the weekend. What troubled Donovan most was an apparent absence of "pride."
The USMNT opened Saturday's friendly in Atlanta with energy, grabbing an early lead before being pegged back by the high-caliber European opponents just before the break. However, the World Cup co-host barely showed up for the second half. Belgium kept the USMNT at bay before repeatedly slicing through its vulnerable defense on the counter.
Pochettino identified some bright spots in the first-half performance, but Donovan was far more troubled by the feeble capitulation after the restart.
"Tim Howard and I recorded our podcast this morning, and the part we just can't wrap our heads around is why it seemed like nobody cared," Donovan told The Athletic. "They're running around and putting in effort. But there were no yellow cards. Nobody got kicked." In the second half, the USMNT were whistled for six fouls — matching Belgium's total — and picked up just one booking.
Donovan was pressed on whether he genuinely believed "nobody cared" and walked back his position slightly.
"Care isn't the right word," he admitted. "It's not that they don't care, but maybe they lack enough pride. Maybe that's how I need to phrase it. Fair point.
"But I would have been mortified losing a home match three months before the World Cup with 70,000 fans in the stands. I would have been absolutely humiliated losing 4–1 and 5–1 — forget it. I probably would have gotten sent off.
"I'm just trying to understand why nobody is yelling at each other. Why is nobody picking up a yellow card? Why is nobody stopping [Jérémy] Doku after he's been tearing us apart for 70 minutes? Why isn't any of this happening? I can't make sense of it. I don't know if it's a generational thing or specific to this team, but it just doesn't happen. And it absolutely baffles me."
Donovan Fears 'Psychological Damage' Ahead of World Cup
Donovan was emphatic in stressing that his generation of U.S. internationals "were never worried about conceding five goals."
"That would never, ever have happened," he insisted. Donovan himself never conceded more than four goals in an international match; though the USMNT did suffer a 5–0 defeat in the 2009 Gold Cup final to Mexico while the prolific forward was absent, having skipped the entire tournament following a demanding club schedule.
Nonetheless, Donovan's confidence in the current crop is noticeably thin. "For this team, I am concerned," he said with worry. "There's no question that conceding five goals at home three months before the World Cup is going to inflict psychological damage on the team and its players.
"The good news is they have another opportunity to quickly erase that result. The bad news is they're facing Portugal, so we're going to learn a great deal about this team."
The USMNT host Portugal on Tuesday evening in their final friendly before Pochettino announces his definitive World Cup squad. Most starting positions have been settled for months, yet concerns persist over one area in particular: the defensive line.
USMNT's Glaring 'Issue' Which Won't Go Away
For Donovan, and many other observers, the USMNT's greatest vulnerability lies at the heart of the defense. "I've said all along that when we face quality opposition, this becomes a real problem," the retired striker lamented. "It just is what it is."
The absence of Crystal Palace's Chris Richards against Belgium did little to shore up a side that has long struggled to establish a commanding backline. Even during the five-game unbeaten run that generated so much optimism before Belgium shattered it, Pochettino's side only managed a clean sheet against a heavily rotated Japan squad. The last time the USMNT kept back-to-back shutouts was in the fall of 2023.
"We still don't have many answers along the backline," Donovan said with resignation. "All of that can be offset by a spirit and a fighting mentality that helps you compete, making the collective far greater than the sum of its parts.
"If you're up against a team like Belgium, with genuinely world-class players on the pitch, you can get embarrassed. So at the very least, forget formations, tactics, or personnel — if you can't compete one-on-one with your opponent, you have no chance. They're simply better players. So we have to get that part right first."