CARSON, Calif. -- Chris Wondolowski's stunning miss in the third minute of stoppage time of the U.S. National Team's 2-1 World Cup defeat to Belgium will be one of the defining moments of the team's participation in Brazil until the next tournament rolls around in four years time.
Wondolowski had a chance to give the Americans the victory in the dying moments of the match, but he fired his chance over the bar. There was discussion after the play about whether or not the San Jose Earthquakes striker was offside, but FIFA's official statistics did not register an offside call on the play.
After LA Galaxy practice on Wednesday, Landon Donovan offered support for his USMNT teammate as he looks to move beyond the crushing miss.
"Everyone of us have missed opportunities easier than that. The life of a forward is all the glory when you score because if he scores that then he's a national hero today. But when you miss, it's devastating," Donovan said. "Wondo is a great human being and a great teammate, and guys love him. You want him on your team and if that chance fell 10 more times you'd want him to be on the end of it. That's a perfect Wondo goal and you would have expected that [the ball] went in. Maybe the one out of 10 times happened [against Belgium] and he doesn't score it.
"It's disappointing and I know that he's bummed out," he added. "But I hope that he doesn't let it define him because he's certainly done a lot for this team and this sport so he should be proud."
