Copa America: Landon Donovan tells us why the USMNT can shock Argentina

USA star Landon Donovan is telling fans there’s a chance to beat Argentina, and they can help.

As the leading scorer in US Men’s National Team history, Landon Donovan isn’t exactly an impartial observer when it comes to the USA-Argentina semifinal match in Houston on Tuesday night.

He’s also not a complete homer. With Argentina blitzing its opponents so far in Copa America Centenario, and the best soccer player in the world, Lionel Messi, feeling better and better as the tournament goes on, Donovan understands the odds the home side is facing at NRG Stadium.

That would be true even with Jurgen Klinsmann able to pick from his full complement of players. But with Jermaine Jones, Bobby Wood and Alejandro Bedoya all unavailable, Donovan told FanSided in a recent phone interview that the mountain the USMNT will have to climb is that much taller.

“Playing Argentina at full strength with your team at full strength is tough enough,” Donovan said. “Playing without three really influential players is very tough. But Jurgen said it himself: This is why you build a roster of 23 guys that you know you can call on at any time, for moments like this.”

Klinsmann has had to shuffle things on the back line already in this Copa America, missing DeAndre Yedlin for the quarterfinal match against Ecuador. Yedlin is back to face Argentina, but the yellow and red card suspensions have hit the midfield and attack hard.

No one Klinsmann can summon has played a full 90 minutes for the U.S. in the tournament yet, and that, more than the opposition, could be a factor.

“I think the biggest issue for the guys coming into the game, who are going to start the game, is that they haven’t played a soccer game in at least three weeks,” Donovan said. “They’re not going to be as sharp. Of course they’re training hard while the first team is playing, but they’re not going to have that same confidence, that same fitness.”

So what chances do the Americans have? Donovan estimates them at 20 percent, saying that “maybe eight times out of 10, Argentina wins this game.” He’s not ignoring the differences in talent, as he knows firsthand just how good Messi and company are.

Related Story: 5 reasons the USA can beat Argentina

But he also likes what he sees in terms of the U.S. esprit de corps, an interesting observation considering that he has not always been the biggest Klinsmann supporter in the past. Yet he seems to be giving credit to the coach for getting his players on the same page, something that will be vital to any upset bid.

“What I like most right now is I think since Jurgen’s been the coach, this is the most unified I’ve seen this team,” Donovan said. “They weren’t perfect against Ecuador. It’s not they came off the field saying we played them off the park. But their team spirit was tremendous, and that’s always been a hallmark of U.S. teams. We haven’t always seen it throughout the years, but this tournament has been fantastic. You can see it in the way they approach the game beforehand, you can see it in their reactions when they score. All of that, you can tell how tight they are, and for that, Jurgen deserves a ton of credit.”

There’s also a role the American supporters can play. Home field advantage isn’t going to be enough to upend Argentina, but it can only help.

“There’s no question they got a boost from the Seattle crowd last week,” Donovan said. “There will be Argentinian fans. There will be a very big portion of just general fans that want to see Messi play, but there will be a massive number of American fans who want to root for the U.S. and support their team. So if they can get the crowd behind them early, maybe even score a goal early, it could dramatically affect the game, and I think they’re counting on that.”

In other words, Donovan is paraphrasing Jim Carrey’s Lloyd Christmas from Dumb and Dumber and telling us there’s a chance. And when the U.S. takes the field on Tuesday night, that’s all the fans can really ask.

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