sport news World Cup: Clint Dempsey warns England the USA's 'Golden Generation' are its ... trends now
Clint Dempsey scored against England at the 2010 World Cup and will be on broadcasting duty in Qatar for the rematch on Friday.
Ahead of the big game, he chatted to his former Fulham team-mate Danny Murphy about American soccer, the danger men for Gareth Southgate and his own emotional reunion with former England goalkeeper Robert Green.
Clint Dempsey was the best trainer I ever played with. He was first, Jamie Carragher second and Robbie Keane third. That incredible drive took him from rural Texas to the Premier League and the World Cup. Even if he had played well, he’d be upset unless he’d directly impacted a game with a goal or assist.
It was an elite attitude that worked to his advantage against England at the 2010 World Cup, when his unlikely pot shot famously squeezed past the hands of goalkeeper Rob Green to earn USA a memorable 1-1 draw in Rustenburg.
The goal will be shown on repeat before the two countries meet again in Qatar this week. Like me, Clint will be covering the tournament for TV and, during our interview, it was clear memories of the last encounter are still strong.
Clint Dempsey's 25-yard goal against England at the 2010 World Cup snatched a point for USA
Dempsey's shot trickled over the goal line after England goalkeeper Rob Green's fumble
The goalkeeper could only look back at his goal in horror as the ball trickled between his posts
Green sat face down on the Rustenburg pitch as Dempsey celebrated with his teammates
‘There was a lot of buzz when the draw came out and playing and living in England, all I heard was that America would be an easy team to play against,’ he says. ‘It added to the chip on my shoulder. Being an American, you always felt you had to be better than a European player just to get into the team.
‘There was plenty of trash talk, even if it wasn’t all seriously meant. Mike Kelly [Roy Hodgson’s assistant at Fulham] was always winding me up to get me going and you boys would have to tell me to try to relax. I definitely felt motivated and that I had a point to prove against England.
‘Steven Gerrard scored first and then put me on the ground with a tackle. I spent the whole rest of the match wanting to get him back and finally managed to turn past him before having my shot at Robert Green. I consider it a lucky goal. The Jabulani ball used at that World Cup moved a bit more than usual.
‘It’s funny because my dad played American football so couldn’t give me too much advice but one thing he always said was: “If you don’t shoot, you can’t score”.’
Green was dropped by Fabio Capello afterwards and, though he rebuilt his career at club level, the blunder was never forgotten. He recently travelled to the CBS studios in America to discuss the historic moment with Clint.
Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard gave the Three Lions the perfect start to the contest
The howler signalled the end of Green's campaign as he was replaced by David James (above)
‘It was emotional and I told him that I felt my late sister had played a part in me scoring,’ says Dempsey. ‘She died suddenly at 16 but we’d always said as kids that we’d have a sign to show we were still watching over each other, and hers was to help me get a goal.’
Comparisons between the England and USA teams in 2010 and now are fascinating. Arguably, England had better individual players then in John Terry, Ashley Cole, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney, but are collectively better under manager Gareth Southgate.
America had a couple of stand-outs in South Africa like Clint and Landon Donovan but even they weren’t at Europe’s top clubs, unlike the 2022 squad, which has players from Chelsea, AC Milan, Juventus and Borussia Dortmund.
‘We had big players on smaller teams, now you have Americans at big teams
