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Whatever good vibes surrounded the USMNT during their first four matches in the 2026 FIFA World Cup evaporated following their 4-1 loss to Belgium in the Round of 16.
After that, it was open season on the U.S.squad, and especially star player Christian Pulisic, who was a non-factor in the match before leaving due to an injury.
Sports media members have beencoming out of the woodwork to slam Pulisic in the days since, with none perhaps louder than Fox Sports soccer analyst Landon Donovan. Not only did he blast the USMNT star for subbing out of the elimination game (“You would have had to f*cking drag me off the field.”) but he later doubled down on his doubts about Pulisic, claiming that players, staff and sponsors around the USMNT are “fed up” with his camp.
During Thursday’s episode of First Take, ESPN soccer analyst Herculez Gomez is surprised that Donovan doesn’t show a little more sympathy for Pulisic, given that they’ve walked similar paths in their playing careers.
“There’s a lot of context here and also a lot of water under that bridge between Christian Pulisic, his camp, his family, and Landon Donovan and Tim Howard to that extent,” Gomez said. “They’ve had some interactions with the father that have been public, so there is some backstory there.
“I find it interesting because Landon and Christian are the same person. They’re the same player. They should really understand each other. And Landon had a situation in 2006 where he was used as one of the scapegoats for that disastrous World Cup campaign. He knows exactly what Christian Pulisic is feeling right now. So maybe instead of attacking each other or the camps, there should be some sort of coming to terms here, coming together and helping, because I think what Christian Pulisic is going through right now, he’s being used as a scapegoat for this failed World Cup.”
Gomez and Donovan played together for the USMNT for several years. Before Gomez joined the roster, the USMNT suffered a disappointing group-stage exit at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and Donovan was widely blamed for the team’s lack of offensive urgency and passive play.
David Dennis, Jr., who was also on the First Take panel Thursday, agreed that Pulisic took the brunt of the criticism while nursing an injury, and that many of his critics haven’t really given him grace.
“I’m with you. You would think that there would be a little bit more sort of unity coming out of this,” said Dennis. “The guy had an injury. Like the way that he discussed this afterwards leaves a lot to be desired. Talking about rest, I’m going to talk about that. But the guy was injured, and we don’t totally know how much that hampered the way he played. He did not play well. And you would kind of think, coming off of a heartbreaking, embarrassing loss, that somebody who was your— not your peer, but sort of came before you and paved the way for you— would have a little bit more togetherness in those moments.”
It was revealed Thursday that Pulisic suffered a bone bruise and a microfracture of his tibia and fibula during the loss to Belgium. We’ll see if that changes the equation for Donovan and other critics moving forward.
The post Herculez Gomez: Landon Donovan should understand what Christian Pulisic is going through appeared first on Awful Announcing.
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