Column: SD Loyal overcome teen star — but Landon Donovan not thrilled

Landon Donovan’s soccer team assumed an unfamiliar role of heavy favorite Sunday, opposite a winless opponent.

Though San Diego Loyal earned a 3-2 victory before a spirited crowd of 3,800 fans at the University of San Diego, it was encouraging that Donovan stuck to his policy of evaluating not only the result but caliber of performance.

Not good enough, said the former soccer star.

SD Loyal (4-1) won’t be winning the USL Championship’s title based on their second-half work against El Paso (0-4).

A similar showing Wednesday night, when Donovan’s club will face lesser-tiered Albion San Diego in the Open Cup, could expose SD Loyal to a stinging upset.

“It would be hypocritical to be excited about today after that second half,” said Donovan, who, win or lose, is wary of reading too much into the final score. “I was disappointed in just the last 30 minutes of the game. You can make every excuse. But, good teams don’t do that. We still have a ways to go.”

Goals from Kyle Vassell, Tumi Moshobane and Thomas Amang, coupled with an assist apiece from Nick Moon and Evan Conway, stood as worth three points in the standings.

In fairness to his team, Donovan deemed El Paso a “very good” club and predicted the Locomotive will match his 2021 squad by earning a playoff berth after an 0-4 start.

His players will hear from Donovan about not scoring more goals in the first half, when El Paso advanced its back line to a rare degree. A dismal second half in which, according to the coach, their energy fell off for some 30 minutes will be another film-review topic.

“We didn’t have the courage to have the ball and keep the ball when we could,” Donovan said. “And, it just led to a lot of defending. And, we’re not built to defend for long stretches of time. We were fortunate to not have them equalize in the end.”

Going ahead for good, the Loyal broke a 1-1 tie via one of the team’s more artistic goals this year, enabled by two long crossing passes, Amang to Conway, then Conway to Moshobane, in the 40th minute. On the geographic scorecard, Cameroon, Wisconsin and South Africa were represented in that rainbow-rainbow-liner connecting of dots.

If there was a co-MVP to the versatile performance by Moon, who moved from left wing to ably fill in for defender Jack Metcalf, it was the crowd.

These folks weren’t preoccupied with their smartphones.

“Awesome crowd,” said Diego Luna, an El Paso midfielder.

Luna, an 18-year-old who recently trained in Argentina with the United States’ under-20 national team, rated it a “top” crowd for USL.

Cupping his ears while turning to the stands after El Paso tied the score 1-1, Luna apparently enjoyed the fans’ jibes.

“The crowd getting into and getting into the players — I like it,” said Luna, who received a yellow card and, by the body language of some Loyal players, deserved a disqualifying second card after an encounter with defender Elijah Martin.

Luna had no goals or assists, but Donovan said the 5-foot-8, 188-pounder is a fantastic player.

“If he decides that he really wants this and he wants to keep pushing himself, his future is very bright,” said the coach. He added: “Sees the field well, runs well. Technically, very gifted. There’s not a lot of faults in his game. If he keeps going, he’s got a chance to play at the next level.”

Following Wednesday’s 7:30 p.m. match at Canyon Crest Academy Stadium against Albion of the National Independent Soccer Association, Donovan’s team will resume USL play Saturday with a 7 p.m. match at USD against Charleston.