In one of the biggest controversies in U.S. soccer history, Jurgen Klinsmann infamously left out USMNT stalwart Landon Donovan from his 23-man squad for the 2014 World Cup. Donovan, who was 32 years old at the time, would have been looking at participating in his fourth World Cup, but sadly it was not to be.
The FIFA World Cup 2018 is just around the corner and the excitement is through the roof for all us football lovers. Though many football stars, rookie or veteran, share the same passion of serving their country on the pitch, other players like Michael Carrick would rather Netflix and chill.
La primera temporada de Landon Donovan en la Liga MX terminó el sábado con el Club León derrotando al Guadalajara 2-0 en un partido entre dos clubes ya eliminados de la contienda de playoffs. Donovan jugó los últimos 15 minutos del partido, lo que le dio un total de solo 112 minutos de la Liga MX en solo seis apariciones en la temporada Clausura.
You can take the USMNT out of the World Cup, but you can’t take the World Cup out of the USMNT ... or something. We might not be creating any new memories in Russia, but at least we’ve got some historical moments that're always worth revisiting. I’m talking about the 2002 World Cup team.
The team’s run to the quarterfinals of that competition was no fluke — they didn’t Portugal Euro 2016 themselves into the history books.
At first there was the phenomenon of the Hollywood player, when the likes of David Beckham and Thierry Henry migrated to the world of American soccer. No need to mention Zlatan here, that’s just sad, isn’t it? These larger-than-life players spending their final playing days on MLS pitches was entertaining, but not alarming. They didn’t barricade entry to other players — namely young, talented American players. The clubs did.
Nobody expected a 36-year-old Landon Donovan (who’d really been out of the game for a few years) to tear it up with Club Leon following his shock return to soccer, but we certainly expected more than just four league appearances totaling 37 minutes after joining back on Jan. 12.
Minutes have been hard to come by for Donovan as manager Gustavo Diaz monitors his progress. However, with a match against Tigres looming next Saturday, Donovan might’ve forced himself into the conversation with this instinctive finish against the San Jose Earthquakes.
Landon Donovan receives a lot of abuse for his playing career, and if you forget World Cups, the fact that he signed for Bayer Leverkusen as a teenager, the well-deserved accolade of having the MLS MVP award named after him, his successful loan moves with Everton, his hugely influential 14-year spell with the national team and his joyfully direct play, then he totally deserves all the criticism that comes his way.
Landon Donovan has gotten off the mark for his new club, Leon. In a sense, that is. We'll give it to him.
Donovan came on as a substitute in Leon's Copa MX clash against Atletico Zacatepec, and managed to stick around until the penalty shootout.
Leon ended up losing the shootout 7-6, but one of the penalty takers was talented American youngster Landon Donovan.
WHACK.
Leon's shiny new (used) American import, Landon Donovan, celebrated his 36th birthday on Sunday, and his Leon teammates celebrated it with him by shoving cake into his face during training.
Y al final de nuestro entrenamiento, @landondonovan y Burbano fueron festejados así... pic.twitter.com/8CzSlRqBiC
Landon Donovan came in as a second-half sub for Club León on Tuesday night as the American continued his second comeback from retirement. He played about 30 minutes for the Liga MX side in a 4-1 win over second-tier Cafetaleros in Copa MX action. It was his second appearance in 10 León matches since announcing his return to football in January, which begs the question: Is he still getting back to match fitness or was his signing purely a publicity stunt?