A new generation of players is inching closer to the opportunity of a lifetime as the United States prepares for the World Cup. Young, talented players will get their first major stage to start building their legacies in the fall in Qatar. Nothing compares to the stakes of the world's most- watched sporting event, for all they have done to establish themselves at the club level.
How players are remembered will be shaped by their performance at the World Cup. That's why the first two names that come to mind when someone inquires about the GOAT of the USMNT are the guys. It's that way for a group of mostly active players who have international appearances to their names.
Who is the greatest USMNT player of all time, asked current and former Major League Soccer players?
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Here are the results of other races. Several respondents stated explicitly that there should be a separate category for shot stopers.
The national team careers of the two guys are very similar: 36 assists, 16 appearances, and one gold cup. They both own the USMNT's career goals record with 57, and they've both worn the captain's armband at different points in their careers.
A number of our anonymous voting panel submitted "honorable mention" ballots for whichever player they didn't choose at the top, and lobbying to be allowed to split their vote between the two players.
| Donovan | Dempsey | |
|---|---|---|
| First cap | Oct. 25, 2000 | Nov. 17, 2004 |
| Appearances | 157 | 141 |
| Goals | 57 | 57 |
| Assists | 31 | 17 |
| World Cups | 3 | 3 |
Their club careers unfolded in stark contrast to their international careers.
The two are front and center of the U.S. men's pantheon, but they are not the face of the game. What is that? The main thing is silverware.
While many of today's rising American stars started their careers in Germany, the man from Southern California only played nine times for the club. He played for 101 times on loan with the San Jose Earthquakes and won two MLS Cups before he made his debut for the German club.
After just a short time back in MLS, he became the best in the U.S., winning four more MLS Cups.
In this country, the North American league renamed its most valuable player award after the soccer player, because he was so synonymous with the sport.
The debate was between Herculez Gomez and Sebastian Salazar.
It was not the same for the man. He wasn't taken into a club. The Texan was overlooked by seven organizations before being drafted eighth overall by the New England Revolution in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft and earning three All-Star selections.
In his first 18 months there, the club narrowly avoided being demoted to the second tier of English soccer. In three of his six seasons with the club, he was the top scorer. He helped drag the club to a Europa League final, scoring arguably the club's greatest ever goal with a chip of Antonio Chimenti.
His trophy cabinet consisted of one MLS Cup, one Supporters' Shield, and one U.S. Open Cup, but he didn't win any of them.
The trail for American players to make it in Europe was helped by the work of Dempsey. The successes that defined their club careers could hardly be more different, which illustrates why their predecessors, teammates and successors have so much trouble choosing between them.
The outlier in the anonymous poll results is the first thing that comes to mind. Adams is the greatest of all time. The results came back anonymous, so we don't know who voted for him, but we assume it was two guys lobbying for a friend and moving on. One day could he talk to someone? Adams is the player best suited to captain the team for the long term as he is on an impressive trajectory after moving to the Bundesliga at 18. If he accumulates more than 100 caps, he will captain the team at multiple World Cup and play in a top-five European league for a decade or more.
It's obvious that Pulisic is the place to begin. It was the first time in team history that someone had had such an immediate impact. He was the youngest to play for the U.S. in the modern era and the youngest to play in a World Cup qualification. He broke the American transfer fee record and became the fastest player to reach double-digit goals and assists last week. He'll break the goals record held by the two players and finish with a list of accomplishments that surpasses theirs.
Weston McKennie was the team's most important player and he deserved a mention because of the stretches during qualification. He can impact the game at both ends and has a star quality.
The 19-year-old has the talent to get to that level, even though his dad received a few votes. Unfortunately, his availability this season has been severely limited due to injury, despite his ability to break into a talented team at just 17 years old. The two players are in a league of their own.
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