Landon Donovan had arguably the most successful international career in U.S. men's national team history. But his club career was a far different story whenever Donovan ventured out of the friendly confines of MLS.
Yet, when it came to listing cautionary tales of hyped-but-disappointing American players at European clubs, Donovan found it easy to list other players. He named Freddy Adu, Eddie Johnson and Gio Reyna as reasons to pump the brakes on 17-year-old USMNT phenom Cavan Sullivan. Donovan, though, didn't name himself.
Well, Johnson was furious about that and publicly called out his former USMNT teammate.
Donovan said on the Unfiltered Soccer podcast:
"I am measured and calm because I, unlike a lot of new soccer fans, have seen this story happen
over and over. I saw it with Freddy Adu. I saw it with a guy you won't even remember, Santino Quaranta. I saw it with Eddie Johnson. I saw it with Gio (Reyna) and seen how it's progressed. There will be the next superstar at some point. It might be Cavan. I'm hoping it's Cavan, or maybe it's Julian Hall."
Johnson scored 19 goals in 63 caps with the USMNT, and he was on the 2006 World Cup roster. But his club career in Europe included a brief spell with Fulham before going on loan to Cardiff City, Aris (Greece) and Preston North End. Johnson saw those comments from Donovan and took to Instagram to call out Donovan's failed stints in Europe.
Donovan scored 145 goals in MLS, which is second all-time behind Chris Wondolowski. But when Donovan did look to challenge himself in top European leagues, the results were disastrous. He flamed out after six matches with Bayern Munich and scored just two goals in separate loans with Everton.
If Donovan was going to list players who failed to live up to the hype in Europe, he should have been speaking from experience instead of throwing other players under the bus.
Johnson was right to be angry.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Ex-USMNT striker called out 'failed' Landon Donovan for disparaging his playing career
