{"id":17024,"date":"2025-07-28T15:47:20","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T19:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/07\/28\/the-unacceptable-absence-of-landon-donovan-prithic-from-the-gold-cup-why-messis-decision-to-step-back-was-the-right-call\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T15:47:20","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T19:47:20","slug":"the-unacceptable-absence-of-landon-donovan-prithic-from-the-gold-cup-why-messis-decision-to-step-back-was-the-right-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/07\/28\/the-unacceptable-absence-of-landon-donovan-prithic-from-the-gold-cup-why-messis-decision-to-step-back-was-the-right-call\/","title":{"rendered":"The Unacceptable Absence of Landon Donovan Prithic from the Gold Cup: Why Messi&#8217;s Decision to Step Back Was the Right Call"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<h2 class=\"heading\" id=\"subscribe-to-the-cooligans\"><strong>Join Cooligans<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Hosts Christian Polanco and Alexis Guerreros delve into the contentious summer for the US Men&#8217;s National Team (USMNT), stirring reflections from USMNT icon Landon Donovan. Donovan shares his thoughts on Christian Pulisic&#8217;s absence from the Gold Cup and discusses his own experiences. He also comments on Lionel Messi&#8217;s missed MLS All-Star game and the league&#8217;s response.<\/p>\n<p>advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Christian and Alexis analyze the UEFA Women\u2019s Euro final, highlighting England&#8217;s victory over Spain. After another impressive performance, does Chloe Kelly finally receive the acknowledgment she deserves?<\/p>\n<p>Next, they discuss the MLS&#8217;s decision to refrain from suspending Lionel Messi after his absence at the All-Star Game. Was this the correct call? They also react to a humorous interview with Morgan Gibbs-White following his new contract with Nottingham Forest amidst speculation about a move to Tottenham.<\/p>\n<p>(7:30) &#8211; The unacceptable nature of Landon Donovan\u2019s Gold Cup absence<\/p>\n<p>(15:30) &#8211; Donovan&#8217;s take on Messi&#8217;s All-Star Game absence<\/p>\n<p>(23:30) &#8211; England&#8217;s back-to-back victories in the Women&#8217;s Euros<\/p>\n<p>advertisement<\/p>\n<p>(39:30) &#8211; Evaluating the MLS&#8217;s approach to Messi&#8217;s absence<\/p>\n<p>(54:30) &#8211; Morgan Gibbs-White remains with Nottingham Forest<\/p>\n<figure class=\"content-figure\">\n<div class=\"content-image\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Landon-Pulisic\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/y.dT9oCl6xjBqQcFbMUlOQ--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2025-07\/38cc4060-6be8-11f0-b3e9-c3199164524c\"><br \/>\n<button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"lightbox-btn\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"lightbox-expand\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/button><br \/>\n<dialog aria-label=\"Image Lightbox\" class=\"lightbox-overlay\" aria-modal=\"true\"><\/dialog>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"fig-caption\">\n<p>Landon-Pulisic<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>\ud83d\udda5\ud83d\udda5\ufe0f <\/strong><strong><em>Catch the full episode on YouTube<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Explore more from the Yahoo Sports Podcast family <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>https:\/\/apple.co\/3Zeutqj<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> Or <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>Yahoo Sports Podcasts<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Fan Take:<\/strong> This news is significant for soccer fans as it encapsulates key discussions around player dynamics and the implications of their absences on team performance and league reputation. The reactions from Donovan and the analysis of Messi&#8217;s situation indicate how pivotal these stars are to the sport&#8217;s landscape in the U.S. and beyond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Join Cooligans Hosts Christian Polanco and Alexis Guerreros delve into the contentious summer for the US Men&#8217;s National Team (USMNT), stirring reflections from USMNT icon Landon Donovan. Donovan shares his thoughts on Christian Pulisic&#8217;s absence from the Gold Cup and discusses his own experiences. He also comments on Lionel Messi&#8217;s missed MLS All-Star game and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17025,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[1745,4382,913,1455,1995,40,551,1994,1854,46,3551,45,2274,4911],"class_list":{"0":"post-17024","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-absence","9":"tag-call","10":"tag-cup","11":"tag-decision","12":"tag-donovan","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-gold","15":"tag-landon","16":"tag-messis","17":"tag-news","18":"tag-prithic","19":"tag-soccer","20":"tag-step","21":"tag-unacceptable"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}