A Striking Pair

America's fútbol future rests at the feet of unlikely partners Landon Donovan and Clint Mathis

By Grant Wahl

Lit by the crescent moon over Miami, U.S. striker Clint Mathis has just shown a visitor his new tattoos -- a five-inch-long sword on each arm and the nickname CLEETUS scrawled across his upper back -- when the subject turns to his tatt-free teammate Landon Donovan. Mathis, 26, and Donovan, 20, are the most talked about men in American soccer, and perhaps will be for years. Yet they have radically divergent appeals. "Landon's the poster boy, and he deserves that," Mathis says in his Georgia drawl. And what are you? he's asked. Mathis laughs. "Dennis Rodman," he says. "How 'bout that?"

Yes, Donovan and Mathis are ... different. One is scrubbed, the other scruffy. If Donovan is Justin Timberlake, Mathis is Kid Rock. Yet somehow the two have had little trouble staking out common ground. "The first time I came into camp, I could tell Clint was someone I'd like to play with," Donovan said before last Saturday's 1-0 exhibition loss to Argentina, in which the two were paired at forward for the first time. "That's when soccer is fun -- when it's all creativity and instinct and you get spectacular goals. We have similar styles, and we read off each other well."

Both face daunting challenges in 2003. Donovan will need to show he made a wise decision by pressuring German club Bayer Leverkusen to extend his loan to MLS's San Jose Earthquakes for another two years. "For now it's the right move," Donovan says. "I'm a motivated person, but I don't need to be successful there to be satisfied. I've succeeded at the highest level."

Mathis's 2002 feats -- he led the U.S. with seven goals and scored in the crucial 1-1 World Cup tie against South Korea -- were dimmed by criticism of his fitness, his nocturnal habits and his barking at referees. In response, he cut down his fat intake and resolved on New Year's Eve (while watching fireworks on Hawaii's Waikiki Beach) to recommit himself to soccer. The MetroStars forward is in the last year of his MLS contract and would love to spark Europe's interest once again. "I'm still the same Clint," he says, "but I know this is a make-or-break year, and the way to deal with negativity is to shut everybody up by playing well."

It's up to U.S. coach Bruce Arena to figure out where they play best together. "They're both talented," Arena says. "Clint's probably a little better goal scorer and passer, and Landon's more versatile because of his athleticism and fitness. I've wanted to get them up top together. As Clint gets a little fitter, he may be the guy to play in the midfield."

On Saturday it was clear that Mathis's revival isn't yet complete (he made some sloppy plays under the wilting Argentine pressure) and that Donovan's new international reputation has made him a marked man (he was the only American whom Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa mentioned by name afterward). Despite one explosive 60-yard run and a few dangerous serves on free kicks, Donovan was bottled up.

Yet, as Arena experiments with their roles, Donovan's and Mathis's outside interests actually may be starting to converge. When asked which European country they'd like to play in someday, their first response is England. Donovan is talking about getting a tattoo, and after he turns 21 next month, he says, "I'll go out after the games, and it'll be more fun." In other words, maybe Rodman and the Poster Boy aren't so different after all.

Issue date: February 17, 2003

 

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