Former United States men’s national team (USMNT) striker Landon Donovan had just a single word to describe his country’s performance against Belgium in Atlanta over the weekend: ‘Brutal.’
The 5-2 defeat in Georgia marked a wild departure from the strong form the USMNT ended 2025 on – as fans headed for the exits early and boos rained down on the pitch.
A strong first half performance was not replicated in the second 45 for the squad under manager Mauricio Pochettino, who shared his belief the USMNT could make the semifinals this summer.
With a matchup against powerhouse Portugal on Tuesday evening, the United States is in the final phases of its World Cup preparation and cannot afford any missteps with less than 75 days until the tournament begins.
Donovan, who spoke exclusively with the Daily Mail, offered his thoughts on the match and how the environment within the locker room needs changing.
He also opened up about his role behind EFL League One powerhouse Lincoln City as the Imps approach a return to the Championship for the first time in 65 years.
USMNT legend Landon Donovan bemoaned the American performance against Belgium
After taking a 1-0 lead, the United States ended up losing 5-2 in Atlanta on Saturday afternoon
Donovan says the Americans ‘have to compete and care’ no matter the stakes of the match
Donovan admitted that the score was a ‘shocking’ one – adding that the team should have showed more fight and desire to make their mark on the game.
‘You’re at home in front of 70,000 people, three months before a World Cup, and you got blown out of your building by Belgium. Not like a hard-fought game, lost in the end. And that to me is shocking. It’s shocking,’ the former LA Galaxy star told the Daily Mail.
‘And [Donovan’s podcast co-host] Tim Howard said it best this morning. He said at 3-1, somebody on the field when he was playing, maybe it was him, somebody would have clattered someone and said, “look, the game might finish 3-1 and you guys will win. It’s not going to be 4. And if it’s 4, you’re not going to walk out of here because I’m going to smash you, right?” And there was none of that.
‘No, nobody got a yellow card [late in the game]. Nobody was upset. It was just ho-hum. We’re losing 5-1 at home, ended up 5-2, but it kind of blew my mind.’
For a group that’s as heralded as this USMNT – considering the number of players now at prolific European clubs like AC Milan, Juventus and Atletico Madrid – Donovan criticized what he perceived was a lack of desire to win.
‘People talk about talent of this team and those clubs they’re playing at and all this bulls**t, and it doesn’t matter if you don’t step on the field and compete,’ the former striker said. ‘You’re wearing your nation’s flag. You have to compete and care.
‘If you don’t do that at a minimum, We have no chance this summer. And it’s not about getting out of the group because we got blessed with the easiest group in the history of our World Cups. We’ll get out of the group, but Belgium’s a team you’d face in the round of 16.
‘A similar-ish type team might happen in the round of 32 if you get out of your group. What are you going to do? Just like not care? So I understand it’s a friendly. I take all the caveats, everything with a grain of salt. But that was really alarming.’
Donovan (seen in 2023) says the US has ‘no chance’ of success at the World Cup if they’re lax
Despite the result, Donovan believes manager Mauricio Pochettino is the right man for the job
Despite all of this, Donovan does believe that Pochettino is the ‘right guy’ to lead this USMNT into the World Cup. He also doesn’t take anything away from the positivity the Argentine manager displays so commonly after defeats.
‘I don’t focus on what he says publicly because what he says publicly is to make sure that people stay behind the team,’ said Donovan. ‘What I can’t speak to because I’m not there is what he’s saying in the locker room or behind the scenes. Or in training this week. I don’t know.
‘I have an opinion of what I think it is because every time they’ve started to go down this negative rabbit hole, they have come back and performed. So I expect the attitude and the effort and the care factor to be really high tomorrow.
‘I don’t know what the result’s going to be. Portugal’s a really good team, but I expect that to be better. I don’t focus on the public part of it because I know that side and I know what he’s doing, and that’s fine. What’s happening behind the scenes is what I care about… I care about how they show up on the field tomorrow night. If they have a similar performance to [the loss], gonna be big, big problems.’
In addition to his podcast and analyst appearances, Donovan serves as a strategic advisor to EFL club Lincoln City. The Imps currently sit on 84 points atop League One and could clinch promotion to the Championship for the first time since 1961 if they earn a minimum of four points.
Donovan says he met someone at a San Diego Padres baseball game that led to him connecting with club owner Clive Nates and CEO Liam Scully.
‘It was very apparent immediately that we were all the same type of humans that saw the world the same way, saw soccer the same way, and wanted this thing to be special,’ Donovan recalled.
Donovan also opened up on his status as a strategic advisor for EFL League One’s Lincoln City
Donovan believes the Imps are well set to stay in the Championship for quite some time
He describes his involvement as having a ‘very small role’ organizationally, but having a ‘very big emotional role for myself’ and admits he’s ‘completely fallen in love with the club.’
Donovan believes now is the perfect time for Lincoln’s possible promotion due to how well set up the club is for the future.
‘A lot of times, clubs that all of a sudden just have an amazing year and they get promoted… [they] can’t afford to pay the players, don’t have the facilities, don’t have the infrastructure to support all this and they end up coming right back down.
‘The key is not to go up. The key is to go up and stay up. Goal number 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 is to go up and then stay up. That’s where this can become, long-term, a much better and even better club than it is now.’
