"Talisman: Something producing apparently magical or miraculous effects. Often in soccer a player is deemed a talisman for the team. Think Ronadlinho for Barcelona or Henry when he was with Arsenal. With that player the team can win, without that player they will often lose." (www.soccer-training-info.com)Traditionally, the talisman wears #10. While it does not use the word talisman, this clip from ESPN sums up the concept pretty well.
Historically, the United States National Team has never really had a talisman. None of our players has ever been a big international star in one of the top-flight leagues in England, Italy, Germany, or Spain. A typical American viewpoint is that are one or two such transcendent players from being able to contend in a World Cup, and we're constantly speculating about which young players out there might fit the bill.
But what if we have an emerging talisman right under our nose? Landon Donovan made the leap today into talismanic territory with his glorious stoppage time goal against Algeria to send the US into the knockout stage. It is certainly the most dramatic and probably the most important goal in our nation's history. (I have not yet tired of watching it.)
Donovan first emerged as a gifted 20-year-old on a team of veterans in the 2002 Cup. That group stunned Portugal in their opening game, got some good breaks in subsequent games, and advanced all the way to the quarterfinals, beating Mexico along the way. It was the best US performance in the World Cup since the 1930 squad made the semis of the inaugural tournament.
In 2006, at 24-year-old Donovan was expected to shoulder the leadership load, a burden he now admits he was not prepared to handle. The team got crushed in its opening game vs. the Czech Republic, and could only earn one point (a draw vs. Italy) in three games. No knockout stage.
Since then, he has undergone turmoil in his personal life, having split from his wife Bianca in 2009. He talks with a new-found maturity and purpose. And his recent stint on loan to Everton in the English Premier League exceeded expectations and earned him international respect. His coach on the national team, Bob Bradley, described it like this following today's game:
"2006 now is, for him, one where he learned a lot. But to have the chance then to come back in the prime of your career, there’s a special feeling when you play on a team where you know people are really counting on you. Your character, your personality is really at the core of how that team does. Some players play their whole careers and never experience that. When you have that, it takes time to get a feel for what that’s all about. But over these years, both on and off the field, I think the fact that he’s grown and matured and accepted these types of challenges has made a huge difference.”I guess we'll see what happens in the next few games, and I hope I'm not too brazen by making that plural. I told my friend Lyon before the Cup that something was different about Donovan and that I thought he would have a huge tournament. His goal at the beginning of the second half against Slovenia seems to have ignited something special in Donovan and the entire US team. No World Cup game is easy; just look at Algeria and Slovenia proving so difficult to take down. But this quarter of the bracket, with Ghana, Uruguay, and South Korea, is devoid of traditional powers (yes, I know Uruguay has two Cups from 60 and 80 years ago), meaning the US has a golden opportunity to make the semis. After that, anything is possible.
The table is set. I look forward to seeing this guy put the whole country on his back. I think he's up to it. U-S-A!!!
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