Why America’s soccer stars should fear NOBODY at Copa America – even Lionel Messi – according to this former team legend

USMNT legend Landon Donovan swapped the field for the golf course earlier this year at the LPGA’s Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, and while he may be used to competing on football’s biggest stage, he admits he felt nervous on the first tee.

But while Donovan may have felt the nerves on the first tee, he insists the USMNT need not fear the Copa America in their own backyard this summer.

Argentina and Canada kicked off the tournament when they clashed at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday evening, while the United States played host to eight different states ranging from the West to the East Coast.

The likes of World Cup champions Argentina and nine-time Copa America winners Brazil stand in the way of the Stars and Stripes’ glory.

But Donovan, who earned 157 caps during his career, believes Gregg Berhalter’s young side can beat anyone in their home win this summer – even Lionel Messi.

“Messi is a phenomenal player, but he’s getting older,” Donovan told DailyMail.com in Lake Nona, Orlando, during the LPGA season opener.

“All our players now play against or with these guys all over the world, so they are not intimidated.

‘They have just experienced a World Cup together, where they achieved good results against tough teams. They won’t be afraid of anyone at the tournament. There’s no reason why they can’t win.’

The Copa America serves as a dress rehearsal for the biggest football spectacle in the US: the World Cup.

But Donovan insists the US should not treat the Copa America merely as a trial run.

As co-hosts of the 2026 tournament with Canada and Mexico, the USMNT will not have to go through qualifying and Donovan insists that will add even more pressure this summer.

‘It’s crucial. Next summer you have the Gold Cup, but the competition is not at this level,” he says. ‘This is their last chance to play really meaningful games.

“They’re going to take it very, very seriously, as they should. Going into it as a player, I think this is like a World Cup; every match should have that intensity.”

Donovan and the importance he attaches to ‘meaningful matches’, especially when it came to his beloved LA Galaxy, caused quite a bit of disagreement with one of football’s greatest players.

David Beckham joined MLS’s LA Galaxy in 2007 on a highly publicized five-year deal worth $32 million, which was originally reported to be worth as much as $250 million.

But after a loan spell at AC Milan in 2008, Beckham was reluctant to return to the US for another MLS season, leaving his Galaxy teammate Donovan fuming.

The American became the first of Beckham’s teammates to actually criticize him publicly at the time and more recently he reiterated his frustrations on the Manchester United legend’s Netflix series, saying: ‘Even if it’s just a small MLS team that he doesn’t really know . what I cared about… it meant a lot to me.”

Donovan backs off slightly when asked about his clash with the former England captain, showing a little more understanding towards his ex-teammate.

“I don’t know if that’s the word I should have used,” Donovan chuckles, looking embarrassed, “but you have to look at it through his eyes. He came from Real Madrid and Manchester United, where he was always part of the best team on the field 95 percent of the time. Then he joins a last-place MLS team.

‘Their facilities? Not the same. Their fan engagement? Not the same. The quality of football? Not the same. The attention was the same, but that was because he was there. That would have been a shock to his system.

“At the time I was frustrated, but now I give him a lot of grace because that was a very difficult transition. And finally he decided to commit to it and ultimately he was successful.”

But Donovan clarified that Beckham never actually stated a public intention, instead claiming he was able to read between the lines because of the former England captain’s pride.

“I didn’t really get that vibe when I talked to him or the way he acted,” he says. “I could just tell as loss after loss after loss piled up.

“He’s proud, right? He had been successful in everything he had done, and he is one of the most famous people in the world. So when he loses and loses, it’s frustrating. So I think his tendency, which would probably be most of us, was to kind of withdraw and distance himself.”

Donovan also doesn’t hold Beckham – or his pride and success – responsible for the tension in the dressing room, admitting the Galaxy didn’t deliver enough to satisfy their star player.

“We didn’t hold up our end of the bargain with the MLS and our team,” Donovan admits. “We had to keep our end of the bargain and we did that in the end, but at first I can understand why it was frustrating.”

Donovan and Beckham went on to win the 2011 and 2012 MLS Cups, with the former scoring the only goal of the match in their first final victory, set up by Robbie Keane and of course Beckham himself.

Whatever frustrations Beckham felt on and off the pitch clearly did not seep into the public consciousness.

His arrival in MLS in 2007, now dubbed the ‘Beckham Effect’, marked the first revolution for the American league since its founding in 1996.

But whatever impact Beckham had on MLS as a player doesn’t compare to what he’s done as an owner.

And in Donovan’s eyes, Beckham’s signing of Messi has taken everything he could ever do as a player to the next level, as he was the only one who could ever lure the World Cup winner to the US.

“It was hard to quantify his impact when he came here,” he claims. “There were actual data points you could measure, like attendance, sponsorships, dollars, and so on. But you couldn’t quantify all the little kids we saw in the stadium watching football for the first time when he came to LA. And it’s the same with Messi.

“Beckham had an incredible legacy in Major League Soccer, taking the MLS to the next level, and then doubled up and one-up and brought in Messi.

‘Make no mistake, there was only one team Messi would go to. And that was Miami because David was there. David has such an impact on people.

“So even when there were some tough years early on, overall he had a huge, huge positive impact.”