Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
While the United States dominated El Salvador in a 5-1 victory, another storyline developed on the field. El Salvador fans were frustrated and decided to throw things including sunglasses at USMNT player Landon Donovan when he was near the sideline seats. Donovan’s response was both perfect and hilarious. Before the assistant referee could take them away, Donovan tried to continue playing with them on.
Donovan subtly told the fans that his future is bright. After the way he has played in the 2013 Gold Cup, he has stepped up and shown he belongs on the 2014 World Cup and September qualifying USMNT roster; his future is indeed bright.
His response to the fans was not the first thing I expected him to do. The United States are used to classless actions from other CONCACAF teams, especially Mexican fans with their laser pointers and trash throwing.
I thought he would just ignore the projectiles thrown at him and move on, but his response was appropriate and made me laugh. On the other hand, Donovan could have taunted them back and done something classless himself.
As one of the leaders on the roster, his classy response showed true leadership. Furthermore, Donovan was looking to have a little fun with his team up by a considerable margin.
In the end, Donovan poked some fun back at the El Salvador fans and caused twitter to ask where the Donovan sun glasses GIF is. For now, I haven’t been able to find one, but it will probably be even funnier than when the incident first happened.
