By Evan Ream
1. Landon Donovan - 45
2. Eric Wynalda -34
3. Brian McBride - 30
4. Joe-Max Moore - 24
5. Bruce Murray - 21
6. Clint Dempsey - 19
7. DaMarcus Beasley - 17
Earnie Stewart - 17
9. Cobi Jones - 15
10. Marcelo Balboa - 13
Hugo Perez - 13
These are your current top 10 United States Men’s National Team goal scorers (current players in bold though it remains to be seen if DaMarcus Beasley will ever play for USA again). For the most part there aren’t very many surprises on this list, though newer fans probably won’t recognize names like Hugo Perez or Bruce Murray. The USMNT goal scoring list is different than a lot of countries because of how low the goal totals are. USA simply did not take their soccer seriously until the 90’s and didn’t schedule enough friendlies for players to score enough goals. Comparing this list to a team like England, there are some shocking differences. Here are England’s top 9 goal scorers (for some reason I was unable to find the 10th):
1. Bobby Charlton – 49
2. Gary Lineker – 48
3. Jimmy Greaves – 44
4. Michael Owen – 40
5. Tom Finney – 30
Nat Lofthouse – 30
Alan Shearer – 30
8. Vivian Woodward – 29
9. Steve Bloomer – 28
Comparing the two lists, England’s 9th best goal scorer would be USA’s 4th best. Though it says Michael Owen is active, there is pretty much zero chance of him ever playing for the Three Lions again, ensuring this list includes only retired players. The next four closest active players to joining this list are Wayne Rooney with 26 goals (very likely), Peter Crouch with 22 goals (likely), Frank Lampard with 21 goals (not likely), and Steven Gerrard with 19 goals (about as likely as me joining this list).
Continue reading after the jump...
Now that there is some perspective on the USMNT top 10 list, I would like to explore what it might look like after the next World Cup cycle. First though, I would like to state a few obvious things:
- No one is catching Landon Donovan anytime soon. He has 45 goals and a few good years left in him. He never gets injured and wants to play in nearly all of the games. I doubt that any of the current players will ever catch him; it will likely take a truly world class player, and we don’t know who that player is yet.
- Clint Dempsey is peaking. Dempsey has already done well for the USMNT, but he just had his best ever club season and looks to finally be peaking as a player. I wouldn’t be surprised if Dempsey was our top scorer in the next cycle.
- Jozy Altidore is slumping. Altidore, who currently ranks 18th on the list with 10 goals was probably considered a lock to be a top 3 goal scorer as early as last year, but times have changed. Jozy scored 6 goals in 2009 and then followed it up with…2 goals. Jozy was on pace to destroy Landon’s record, but he has slowed down, and might not even be considered first choice anymore (I’m using the word might very loosely).
With that being said, what will the list look like after the 2014 World Cup? Here is my best guess (feel free to look this article up on July 13th, 2014 right after USA wins the World Cup):
1. Landon Donovan - 60
You may think I’m crazy. How can a 29 year old expect to score 15 more goals for the national team while he is declining as a player? The answer: steroids. And by steroids I mean penalties (when you think about it, they have the same way of inflating a players’ numbers just in different sports). Landon scored 20 goals in the last World Cup cycle, 10 of which were penalties. Before that he had just 2 penalty goals in 25 goals. Assuming he is always on the field for USA (not that tough of an assumption to make), and assuming they get 7-10 penalties in the next cycle (not that tough of an assumption to make when you look at how Jozy dives), then 60 goals really doesn’t seem that hard to fathom. In fact, I almost feel like I’m underestimating Donovan here. Can he get 65? 70? Only time will tell but the odds of someone else being at the top of this list on July 13th, 2014 are approximately 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 to 1, or roughly the same as Mexico beating us at Crew Stadium.
2. Clint Dempsey – 35
Fact: Clint Dempsey has scored at least one goal in every tournament he has played for USA in. Fact: Clint Dempsey has scored as many World Cup goals as CONCACAF Gold Cup goals (2). I believe he is due. This summer, and likely for the next World Cup cycle, Clint Dempsey will be our best player and possibly our best goal scorer. Dempsey scored 13 goals in the last World Cup cycle even though he didn’t really break out as a player until the 09/10 season (coming up big for Fulham with goals like this and this). Dempsey, at 28, is now peaking as a player with 13 total goals for Fulham this season including 12 in the EPL, good for 10th in the league. Dempsey’s game, which doesn’t really rely on athleticism or speed but mostly intelligence and perseverance, will help him reach his peak despite his declining physical skills. Even if Dempsey isn’t at his best by 2014 I expect him to light up the scoreboard these next 3 years. He could easily score 16 more goals for the national team; I wouldn’t be surprised if he had 40 by the time everything was done.
3. Eric Wynalda - 34
Is it sad that I miss Eric Wynalda as a color commentator for ESPN? He wasn't good by any means, but John Harkes makes him look like Ian Darke. Wynalda could always be counted on to say something controversial; at the very least he was entertaining. I only bring these things up because there isn’t really anything more to write about Wynalda; his career is done. I do love the guy though; US Soccer could use more controversial personalities like him.
4. Brian McBride – 30
Does everyone agree that if we had a 28 year old McGod for USA vs Ghana (too soon?) last year that we would have won? McBride is probably the best pure finisher and target man that has ever played for USA. Sadly I remember in 2006 qualifying when I wanted Eddie Johnson to start over him because he was boring. In a related story, I knew nothing about soccer in 2005. McBride is the best forward USA has ever had and will remain so for the foreseeable future.
5. Joe-Max Moore - 24
Ironically I know pretty much nothing about Joe-Max Moore. The first USMNT game I ever watched (USA vs Trinidad and Tobago 2005 World Cup Qualifying) was the game where he announced his retirement. He seems like he was a very good player, but not good enough to be remembered for being the 4th (soon to be 5th) all time leading goal scorer for USA.
6. Jozy Altidore - 22
Jozy is just 21 but it seems like he has been around for forever. As always, US Soccer fans put their hopes on him being the first world class forward for us, and we thought we were right when he was destroying people in 2009 with 6 goals. Unfortunately he came back down to earth and dropped out of the spotlight last year after a mediocre World Cup. This may have been the best thing that has happened to him as there isn’t as much pressure on him anymore; he can just focus on his soccer. Jozy will likely not be first choice for the entire next cycle, but I do think he is good enough to be a probable starter and chip in with 2-4 goals a year and end up with 12 in the next cycle; gaining 6th place before he even hits his prime as a player. Only time will tell, he is still very young.
7. Josh Wolff - 21
Just kidding.
7. Bruce Murray - 21
Murray is the one player on this list whose prime happened in the 80’s. Because of this I know absolutely nothing about him. 21 goals in 86 games is pretty good though, especially for back then when USA was losing to terrible CONCACAF teams.
8. DaMarcus Beasley and Earnie Stewart - 17
Does Beasley have another goal in him? I say no. It will be interesting to see if he gets the 7 caps he needs for 100. Maybe the USMNT will throw him a bone just like they did for Tony Meola. I don’t know. The saddest thing about Beasley though is that his prime (04/05) when he was tearing up the Champions League and the Dutch Eridivisie consisted during a non World Cup year. As I used to say, “USA used to have two players as good as Landon Donovan and only one of them was named Landon Donovan.” Beasley was the other player. Kudos to Stewart for scoring the famous Colombia goal and landing a Sports Illustrated cover.
9. Eddie Johnson - 16
Maybe I’m crazy (probably) but watch this happen, Johnson only needs 4 goals to do this. Johnson is probably coming back to MLS this summer. He will inevitably start tearing up the league again leading to more confidence and more USMNT playing time. I think that Eddie Johnson can score 4 goals in the next 4 years as a super sub. Sadly this isn’t the same as 8 goals in your first 8 games, but I think at this point USMNT fans will take anything from Johnson.
Over the next 10 years we will likely see many changes on this list, but I predict that the higher ups (Donovan, Dempsey and Wynalda) will not be passed for some time. As we get better and better as a soccer nation, it will be harder and harder for players to remain first choice for a long time. There is a reason why USA has more players with 100 caps than any other nation; a lack of other options. Players will only be able to maintain their spots for their peaks and thus will miss out on scoring a lot of goals. In 20 years people may very well be talking about Donovan’s record as one of those unbreakable sports records, and the chase to reach him will motivate many soccer players just like the all time home run record motivated many baseball players.
Evan Ream is a contributor to Yanks Abroad Video Highlights. He also writes a weekly column for The SACK Lunch Blog. Evan welcomes your comments and questions, he can be reached at reame@sou.edu. You can follow him on twitter @EvanReam
