Can’t someone make a comment anymore without others thinking it is a dig at someone else? If you are retired soccer star Landon Donovan, I guess not.
While watching the U.S. Women’s National Team’s semifinal match vs. Germany Wednesday night, Donovan made what he thought was a positive tweet about how veteran Abby Wambach is such a strong leader on the U.S. team even though she is seeing a significant reduction in playing time for the first time in her career.
Here is what Donovan tweeted during Wednesday’s game.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Love the enthusiasm and veteran presence of <a href=”https://twitter.com/AbbyWambach”>@AbbyWambach</a> despite not playing much. That kind of leadership is priceless during a WC</p>— Landon Donovan (@landondonovan) <a href=”https://twitter.com/landondonovan/status/616049990335500288″>July 1, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
Donovan said he received tweets after his tweet that said he was still bitter referring to U.S. Men’s National Team coach Juergen Klinsmann deciding to leave him off the 2014 World Cup roster. Many have said Donovan would have been the perfect veteran presence needed for the 2014 squad. In interviews after he was cut, Donovan said he would have accepted any role Klinsmann wanted him to have on that team, but he knew he was one of the top 23 players in the U.S. camp.
The tweet caused such a stir that Donovan reached out to Dan Patrick to go on his radio show yesterday to address it.
The following comments share how Donovan explained his thought process before writing his tweet.
“I was trying to be nice, I’m watching this game, I see Abby sit on the bench. She has to be pissed off to some extent, but she’s been a great teammate. After the game she’s in the huddle, she’s cheering, you can tell in her face how happy she is. So I’m like, ‘Oh that’s so great, that’s so important for a team like that,’ and I sent out that tweet. And I had one of those moments right when you hit send you and go, ‘Wait did that sound a little nasty, or did that sound a little bitter?” And then I thought, ‘Nah nobody’s going to go there,’ and then of course within the next hour everyone’s like ‘Oh my God you’re so bitter!’ I was like ‘Oh my God are you kidding me?’ I wish I was bright enough to do that. It would actually be pretty funny.”
I can understand Donovan relating to Wambach’s situation and believing she showed great leadership cheering on her teammates from the bench. But, I can also understand why people would think Donovan’s comments were a dig at Klinsmann. Donovan could have been that veteran cheering from the sideline, but Klinsmann left him home unlike U.S. coach Jill Ellis who decided Wambach’s leadership was essential whether she was on the pitch or sideline.
What is funny about this situation is how even Alexi Lalas, a former U.S. star and an analyst for the Women’s World Cup, reacted to Donovan’s tweet. His own tweet is below.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Agreed. <a href=”https://twitter.com/J_Klinsmann”>@J_Klinsmann</a> should have taken <a href=”https://twitter.com/AbbyWambach”>@AbbyWambach</a>. <a href=”https://t.co/YSB2atDagU”>https://t.co/YSB2atDagU</a></p>— Alexi Lalas (@AlexiLalas) <a href=”https://twitter.com/AlexiLalas/status/616059423581081600″>July 1, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
Quite frankly, I am over the drama of Klinsmann leaving Donovan off the World Cup team. If Donovan says he was just trying to be positive and even made fun of himself by saying he was not bright enough to subtweet Klinsmann, then I believe him.
And that’s as I see it!
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As I See It 