Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan are the two best outfield players American soccer has seen in years, but while both are vital members of the US national team, once you start comparing the two stars in more detail, the similarities start to fade. Beyond the most superficial facts, Dempsey's and Donovan's stories are often at odds.
When Dempsey and Fulham take the field against Donovan and Everton in Friday’s FA Cup fourth round — their first meeting as rivals in almost five years — the match will carry a potentially defining subplot: two superstars vying for the crown as America’s best.
It is hard to argue that they aren’t the two most beloved American players. You can understand why, given the success they’ve both enjoyed, though it is the unique paths both men have taken to reach their stardom that have shaped them into very different characters.
Donovan has always been the Golden Child, US Soccer's chosen one — the player with all the talent who was destined for stardom since his teens. He has won multiple MLS Cup titles and has fashioned a national-team career that you can argue is the best in American soccer history.
Dempsey took a different route to adoration. He came from obscurity in Texas to achieve modest success on the college level. He put in his time in MLS, honing his game before going to England, paying his dues and growing into the best American player in Europe.
Different paths have led these players to the American soccer mountaintop, but as a result, they aren’t seen the same by everybody. While a majority of the US soccer fan base views the duo as points of pride and admiration, there are cross-sections who, fair or not, have chosen one over the other.
Some are devout Donovan fans, hooked by his years of national-team success and countless special moments delivered on American soil. Then there are the hardcore Dempsey fans — people who love him for surviving the unforgiving gauntlet of European soccer, emerging as a bona fide star in the world’s best league.
How some of these fans have come to choose sides often boils down to what they value most: international or club success. To some Donovan fans, Dempsey is a player who has never quite played as well for the United States as he has for Fulham. To them, all of Donovan’s national-team heroics have painted him as the clear-cut better player.
Dempsey’s most die-hard fans view Donovan as the talented, but spoiled star who never cut it in Europe — who just doesn’t have the same heart that Dempsey does. As unfair as that characterization may be to Donovan, it is tough to deny that, from a perception stand point, Dempsey is considered the tougher player — the player who could get going when the going gets tough.
Fans aren’t the only ones who have made those distinctions. The sentiment has carried over to the US national team, where players would never criticize someone like Donovan publicly, though privately, many have questioned Donovan’s toughness through the years.
Donovan has done well in the past two years to silence and convince his skeptics, what with his outstanding loan stints at Everton and his clutch performances at the 2010 World Cup. There aren’t as many whispers about Donovan as their used to be. These days, he has fewer critics than at any previous point in his career.
That still hasn’t changed the roles Dempsey and Donovan have been cast in. Dempsey is still seen as that hard-nosed, no-nonsense Texas boy with the chip on his shoulder, tearing up the Barclays Premier League, searching for respect as he makes the most of every ounce of his talent. Donovan is seen by some as that supremely talented, once-in-a-generation player who perhaps didn’t do as much with his career as he should have. He's a player who will go down as one of the best American players ever, if not the best, but one who should have done more with his talent.
And so that leaves Dempsey and Donovan, two American heroes who have been cast as anti-heroes opposite the other: Two players vying for the same title of America’s best player.
As much as perceptions may not matter to either player, you know that on some level, competitiveness drives them. They want to be the best. Could you really blame Dempsey if he didn’t feel at least a twinge of resentment for being so overshadowed by Donovan despite being the biggest American success in Europe? Could you blame Donovan for wanting to prove he is just as tough as Dempsey, to quiet those same cynical fans who unfairly branded him "Landycakes"?
Whether they meant it to happen or not, Donovan and Dempsey have been cast as rivals — as polar opposites fighting for the same crown. It doesn't matter that their relationship always has been cordial, and they’ve shown nothing but affection for each other as they have shared some of the most memorable moments in American soccer history. There’s no fun in two great players just being friends but not rivals, especially not when both have such different backgrounds, personalities and paths to greatness.
No, Donovan and Dempsey have been cast as opposites: Two great players fighting for the same title, but ultimately simply fighting for respect. They both deserve it and have earned it, and it's silly to think people can’t be fans of both players while appreciating the greatness of both.
Even so, it doesn’t mean we all won’t enjoy watching them do battle.
A winner in the fight between Dempsey and Donovan for the affection of American soccer fans won’t be won on Friday (if that fight ever can be won), but the FA Cup clash certainly should provide some great content. It will be fodder not just for the fans who have taken sides, but for everybody standing in the middle: Fans who are happy to have both representing the United States.
