When the United States squared off against Azerbaijan on May 27 in a warmup match, Landon Donovan looked on and couldn't help but root against his former teammates. Just days after coach Jurgen Klinsmann informed the country's all-time leading scorer that he was getting cut from the final 23-man, Donovan admits that he didn't want the team to "perform well."
"I'll be completely honest, watching them play Azerbaijan, inside, part of me was thinking, I hope the game doesn't go very well today," Donovan said Friday in a phone interview. "In my heart of hearts, I thought, if we get a 1-0 win and the team doesn't perform well, that would feel good."
However, that sentiment didn't last long. One day, to be exact, because Donovan said, "Then the next day I woke up and said to myself, that's a really crappy way to feel," the 32-year-old said. "That's a bad way to live your life, it doesn't help me, it doesn't help the team, it doesn't help the energy that the team needs."
While hearing that Donovan actually hoped the USMNT didn't play well could be a shock, it seems as though his feelings were definitely in the moment. Since then, Landon has become the consummate professional, offering up his analysis on ESPN while displaying zero pettiness over the snub. Donovan sums up his thoughts on the situation, saying, "Life isn't perfect, of course, but we all know it's how you react to things that counts," he said. "I did not want to let this define me."
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[via Los Angeles Times]
