Landon Donovan’s latest criticism of Christian Pulisic appears to have hit a nerve within the AC Milan star’s family, with his dad Mark now having come out swinging.
U.S. Men’s National Team legend Donovan called out “players who chose to skip the Gold Cup,” with Christian being the highest profile player to have done so, during FOX Sports’ broadcast of Portugal’s recent Nations League Final triumph over Spain.
After Cristiano Ronaldo helped his side secure the title on penalties following a 2-2 draw, Donovan cited the former Real Madrid star’s passion as an example of what he felt was missing from the current USMNT, which lost 2-1 to Turkey on Saturday.
“This is what it means to represent your country,” Donovan said. “And if you don’t want to take this, as a professional soccer player and someone who gets the opportunity to wear that jersey and take it seriously and responsibly, then don’t come in.
“This is what it means. He’s (Ronaldo) 40 years old, he played a long a– season, he was out there grinding and hurt himself in the process. And I can’t help but think about some of our (USMNT) guys on vacation right now not wanting to play in the Gold Cup. It’s p—— me off.”
But it appears that Christian’s inner circle has heard enough, with his dad Mark having taken to social media to fire back at Donovan. In a post on Instagram, he shared a screenshot seemingly asking an AI chat why Donovan previously took a sabbatical, seemingly in reference to his break from international soccer in early 2013.
“Landon Donovan took his sabbatical because he was feeling both physically and mentally exhausted after years of intense competition and the pressure that comes with being a top athlete,”
