SEATTLE - Clint Dempsey returned to Seattle this week for the first time in a month, healthy but still processing how he and the U.S. national team performed in the recent Copa America Centenario.
Dempsey and the USMNT finished fourth in the tournament after falling to Argentina in the semifinals and Colombia in the third-place consolation game, a final result that perhaps exceeded some expectations before the tournament began.
“It’s kind of mixed emotions,” Dempsey said in an interview on the Colin Cowherd’s FS1 show ‘The Herd” on Thursday. ”You’re happy you go to the semifinal, you wanna find yourself in a final and trying to play for silverware. Then you find yourself in the third-fourth place game with a rematch against Colombia and then to come up short … I’m still happy with getting to a semifinal but still, you feel like you should have gotten third place at the end of the day.”
Dempsey played as big a role as any player in the team’s success in the tournament, including wins over Costa Rica and Paraguay in the group stage and a thrilling 2-1 win over Ecuador in the quarterfinals at CenturyLink Field on June 16. Dempsey finished the tournament with a team-high three goals and added three assists for the USMNT, a performance that reffirmed his place as the team’s top scoring threat.
Nevertheless, some critics questioned if he could still help carry the team to Russia in two years, when he’ll be 35 years old.
“I feel like I’ve always performed in major competitions for the U.S.,” Dempsey said in an interview with SoundersFC.com on Thursday. “I’ve been lucky enough to score in every major competition that I’ve been a part of. That’s something that I’m proud of….
“You kind of focus on the good things, as opposed to the negatives and the things you can’t control. You focus on the things you can control, and that’s the work you do on the field.”
USMNT head coach Jurgen Klinsmann praised Dempsey during the tournament and said before the loss to Argentina in the semifinals that a fourth World Cup could be a possibility for the Seattle Sounders forward.
“It’s totally down to Clint, because it’s all about quality,” Klinsmann said. “It’s not about age. It’s not about if you’re 18 or 20 or 35. If you get the job done – and right now, Clint Dempsey is getting the job done – that’s something you want as a coach. You want someone up front who is clinical…. It’s totally up to Clint Dempsey how far he wants to take it.”
Dempsey told SoundersFC.com he didn’t have a formal conversation with Klinsmann about his future after the tournament closed last weekend, but insisted he still feels he can contribute.
The USMNT won’t play again until it resumes World Cup qualifying in early September, with matches against Trinidad & Tobago and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
“I enjoyed my time at Copa America, and I still feel like I can make an impact at the club and national team level,” Dempsey told SoundersFC.com. “We’ll see what September brings.”
Dempsey told Cowherd that the current USMNT is “a group with a lot potential” and that he’s excited about the future for the program, but he’s also well aware his role with the team might change if the Americans qualify for Russia 2018.
If Dempsey makes it to Russia he would be the oldest U.S. field player to appear in a World Cup since defender Thomas Dooley suited up at 36 years old in 1998 in France, and he’d join DaMarcus Beasley as just the second American player to appear in four World Cups,
Dempsey said he would be willing to play in a reserve role in Russia if necessary, as long as he can continue to wear the crest he’s worn since debuting for the U.S. back in 2004.
“Yeah, I could do that. It would be tough, but at the same time, you have to look at it the right way,” Dempsey told Cowherd. “You have to look at it like, ‘If I do play, am I fit enough that I can go 90 minutes, non-stop?’ Or do I put in a 60 or 70-minute shift and get subbed, or do you come on later when everyone is tired and try to get goals? Being a goal scorer, that does appeal me to, that I could come on in a game and change it. I would be open to it.
“It’s an honor to represent your country, and I’ve been able to do that 130 times, and been able to play in three World Cups. That would be nice to be able to say you were in four. Not a lot of people can say that."
