(Editorial) – A month ago, Clint Dempsey was in hot water for a referee abuse incident. When suspensions were handed down by both MLS and the U.S. Open Cup, there were concerns about his participation in the 2015 Gold Cup. While he was called in to the team, Head Coach, Jurgen Klinsmann, stripped him of the Captain’s Armband.
Since then, as my colleague Matt Pollard wrote about earlier this week (Clint Dempsey for Gold Cup Golden Ball), all Dempsey has done is come into the Gold Cup and be the United States’ best player and well on his way to winning the Golden Ball.
Note: My goal here is not to compare Dempsey and Landon Donovan, though to some extent any discussion of either one’s legacy must involve some comparison as they’ve overlapped so much.
Not only is Dempsey dominating this tournament, but he reached an achievement on Sunday that has me considering his legacy with the USMNT. On Sunday, against Cuba, Dempsey scored his 42nd non-penalty goal, equaling the 42 non-penalty goals scored by Landon Donovan. Dempsey now sits at 47 goals in 117 caps for the USMNT, just 10 behind Donovan’s 57 goals in 157 caps. While Donovan is generally considered the greatest American soccer player, Dempsey’s accomplishments, largely shared with Donovan, beg the question of his own legacy.
In some ways, Dempsey has had a more accomplished career even than Donovan. While they’ve shared many of their glories with the U.S. national team, Dempsey had a longer, more successful career in Europe, achieving club success at a higher level than Donovan. He’s Fulham’s all time leading Premier League scorer. He’s scored more goals in the Premier League than any other American. He scored that goal against Juventus in the Europa League semi-final that is considered by some the most famous in Fulham history.
Dempsey was twice named Fulham’s player of the season, including 2011-2012 when he scord 23 goals, all of which you can watch here. He was named to the 2009 Confederations Cup Team of the Tournament, was MLS Rookie of the Year in 2004, and U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year on three occasions.
You won’t find Dempsey at the top of the MLS all-time scoring charts with Donovan, though his 48 goals (so far) in 118 games (so far) gives him a goal every 2.5 games, just off Donovan’s pace of one every 2.3 games.
What is Clint Dempsey’s legacy? He is one of the great scorers in U.S. Soccer history. He’s a versatile player who has played as a lone striker, in an attacking pair, as the creator underneath a striker, and even wide at times. He’s a player who was often overshadowed in his national team career because Donovan was the face of the national team, but one could argue that Dempsey has been no less important to the national team.
A year ago in Brazil, Dempsey probably cemented his legacy as the greatest player in U.S. World Cup history, becoming the first Americans, and just 23rd player ever, to score in three World Cups. his goal against Portugal gave him four World Cup goals, just one behind Donovan. With a decent chance of making the 2018 squad, Dempsey could equal or surpass Donovan and score in a fourth World Cup.
Dempsey has been described as a gunslinger. While he was the U.S. captain in the 2014 World Cup, he’s never been the typical leader on the pitch. He’s the first guy you’d pick to go into battle with, but maybe not the guy you’d pick to lead the battle. He’s the guy standing next to the leader and laying it all on the line.
This Gold Cup has been proof of that. Relieved of the Captain’s armband prior to the Gold Cup, Dempsey has dominated on the pitch, free of the pressure’s of the captaincy. While Michael Bradley has assumed the role of Captain, a role that if we’re honest, he’s played for a couple years now as the on-field general, Dempsey is free to do what he does best: just score goals.
Above all else, Dempsey is a competitor. Sometimes that gets him into trouble, as it did in the U.S. Open Cup this year. Other times it drives him to ridiculous service of his team, as in the World Cup when he played the majority of the Ghana match after suffering a broken nose which caused trouble breathing and had him coughing up blood. He’s a guy who will do whatever it takes to help his team win, a characteristic that often leads opponents to hate him as passionately as his supporters love him.
His competitiveness, his talent, and his flair make him a character. They give opposition teams and fans a focal point, an outlet for their dislike of whatever team Dempsey is on, and he seems to feed off of that. Throughout his career he’s been at his best in World Cup qualifying matches, having scored 13 goals in 34 games in CONCACAF qualifying. Fans throughout the region are well familiar with the hijinx and shenanigans that take place in CONCACAF, and Dempsey plays his part, but he also feeds on these things and has become consistently the most dangerous attacker in CONCACAF over the years.
At 32 years old there’s probably a couple years left in Dempsey’s career. If he can keep scoring for the USMNT and grab that elusive MLS Cup, he may go down as the greatest American player of all time. He might be there already. What do you think?
