Background and career
Landon Timothy Donovan (born March 4, 1982) is an American former professional soccer player and coach who played as a winger or forward. He most recently was the interim head coach of San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Widely regarded as one of the greatest American players in history and as the greatest U.S. men's national team player of all time, Donovan was the all-time top assist provider in international football (58) until 2023 and is tied with Clint Dempsey for the most international goals scored by a male U.S. player (57). Donovan won a record six MLS Cups and is the league's all-time assists leader with 136. The Major League Soccer MVP Award has been renamed the Landon Donovan MVP Award in his honor. An early soccer product of IMG Academy, Donovan signed for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen in 1999, though the majority of his club time was spent on loan with the San Jose Earthquakes of MLS, winning the MLS Cup in 2001 and 2003. In 2005, Donovan moved back to the United States permanently to sign with the Los Angeles Galaxy, winning the MLS Cup in 2005 and the MLS Golden Boot in 2008. In 2009, he returned to Germany for a loan with league champions Bayern Munich, and twice went on short loans to Premier League club Everton in 2010 and 2012, winning his fourth MLS Cup between the loans in 2011. He returned to LA Galaxy and won the MLS Cup twice more in 2012 and 2014. He retired as a player in 2014, but made a brief comeback with Galaxy late in the 2016 season and then in 2018 to play for Mexican club León. He further played one season with the San Diego Sockers of the Major Arena Soccer League. Donovan represented his country in several youth levels; winning the Golden Ball of the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Cup. He made his senior debut for the United States national team in 2000. He is the all-time leader in assists, tied with Clint Dempsey as the all-time leader in scoring, and is the second-most capped player of his country (157). He is the only American player to reach the 50 goals/50 assists mark. He starred in the U.S. team that reached the quarter-finals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup where he received the FIFA Best Young Player Award, becoming the first and only North American (CONCACAF) recipient, and was named to the FIFA World Cup All-Star Team as a reserve. He is the highest-scoring American player in World Cup history (5), scoring in the 2002 and 2010 editions. Donovan was runner-up of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and scored in the final. He won the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2002, 2005, 2007, and 2013; winning the MVP award of the 2013 edition and the Golden Boot award of the 2003, 2005, and 2013 editions. Individually, he is tied for the record of four U.S. Soccer Player of the Year awards with Christian Pulisic, and is the only seven-time winner of the Fútbol de Primera Player of the Year award. Donovan was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2023.
Landon Timothy Donovan was born (along with twin sister Tristan) on March 4, 1982, in Ontario, California, to Donna Kenney-Cash, an American special education teacher, and Tim Donovan, a semi-professional ice hockey player originally from Canada. Donovan's parents are both of Irish descent, and he holds Canadian citizenship by way of his father. His mother raised Landon and his siblings in Redlands, California, and he attended Redlands East Valley High School when not engaged in soccer activities elsewhere. Donovan first played soccer with his older brother and when Donovan was six, his mother allowed him to join an organized league, where he scored seven goals in his first match. Donovan was a member of Cal Heat – a club based in nearby Rancho Cucamonga, California. In 1997, he was accepted into U.S. Youth Soccer's Olympic Development Program. In 1999 Donovan attended the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, with other members of the U-17 national team as part of U.S. Soccer's youth development program. Donovan was a member of the inaugural class of the U.S. Soccer youth residency program in Bradenton, Florida. He was named Player of the Tournament for his role in the United States under-17 squad that finished fourth in the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship before signing with German club Bayer Leverkusen later that year.
Later in 1999, Donovan signed a six-year contract for German Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen, whose sporting director Michael Reschke spotted him at a youth tournament in Europe. Despite becoming a regular starter for the club's reserve team upon arrival, Donovan had trouble adapting to life overseas and was allowed extended training periods with United States youth national teams. He played in a German Cup match for the reserve team. Unhappy with his situation with Leverkusen, Donovan was loaned to the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer (MLS) for the 2001 season. In MLS, Donovan had immediate success, leading the Earthquakes to MLS Cup championships in 2001 and 2003 and becoming one of the only recognizable faces of soccer in the United States. In four years in the league, he scored 32 goals and 29 assists in league play, and ten goals and six assists in the playoffs. Two of those goals were in the 2003 MLS Cup, a 4–2 Earthquakes triumph over Chicago Fire SC. Donovan earned Man of the Match for his actions. He was named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year in 2003. In 2004, Donovan became the first man to be named the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year three years in a row before returning to the Bayer Leverkusen first team in January 2005. After playing seven matches with Leverkusen in the 2004–05 season, only two of which were starts, Donovan requested to leave the club. Despite a late offer from English Premier League club Portsmouth, Donovan expressed a desire to return to the United States. Upon his re-entry to MLS, San Jose was denied the chance to re-sign Donovan because Earthquakes general manager Alexi Lalas had traded away his rights. LA Galaxy, his hometown team, were able to trade leading scorer Carlos Ruiz to FC Dallas to get on top of the MLS allocation order as Donovan prepared to leave Germany.
Donovan signed a multi-year contract with LA Galaxy, making him the highest-paid American player in the league. In his first season at the club, Donovan scored 12 league goals with 10 assists and added four goals and an assist in the playoffs as LA Galaxy won the MLS Cup (his third MLS championship to date). He was named to the MLS All-Time Best XI after the season. In his second season with LA Galaxy, Donovan scored 12 league goals and eight assists. He also scored three goals in the Open Cup. Despite this, Donovan and LA Galaxy failed to make the playoffs and lost in the Open Cup to Chicago Fire. Donovan's playoff goals make him MLS' second all-time leading scorer in the playoffs with 14, behind Carlos Ruiz's 15.
Donovan had a mixed year with LA Galaxy in 2007. Upon the signing and arrival of David Beckham, Donovan relinquished his captaincy to the English superstar. In the 2007 SuperLiga tournament, Donovan was the top scorer. He scored a goal in every match except for the final. He scored six goals in five matches. At this point in his career, Donovan had 84 all-time regular season goals putting him in seventh place on the league's all-time scoring list. Although the 2008 season was a disappointment for LA Galaxy, it was a banner year for Donovan as he scored 20 goals and nine assists in 25 matches, forming a strong offensive partnership with David Beckham and Edson Buddle. After his former national team manager Bruce Arena was named LA Galaxy head coach and Beckham joined Milan on loan in early 2009, Donovan once again was given the club captaincy on a permanent basis. In July 2009, Donovan received praise and criticism for his critical comments about Beckham in Sports Illustrated journalist Grant Wahl's book The Beckham Experiment, calling Beckham a poor captain and teammate. He later apologized to Beckham for discussing his concerns to a reporter rather than to him directly. The two reconciled upon Beckham's mid-season return to Los Angeles and Donovan enjoyed an outstanding 2009 campaign, winning the league's Most Valuable Player and MLS Goal of The Year 2009 award and leading LA Galaxy to MLS Cup 2009, which they lost 5–4 on penalties to Real Salt Lake after a 1–1 draw, Donovan missing his attempt in the shootout. Following the season, Donovan agreed to a four-year extension to his contract with LA Galaxy, with clauses that allowed him to seek loans during the MLS offseason. On August 1, 2010, Donovan scored the 100th goal of his MLS career. On September 18, 2010, he became the all-time leading scorer for LA Galaxy.
LA Galaxy had another successful campaign in 2010 winning the Supporters' Shield for the first time since 2003. In that campaign, Donovan scored seven goals and a team-high 16 assists. In the playoffs, LA Galaxy would ultimately succumb to Dallas in the semi-finals. In 2011, LA Galaxy again won the MLS Supporter's Shield. In the MLS Cup 2011, Donovan scored the title-clinching goal in the 72nd minute over the Houston Dynamo, securing his fourth MLS Cup title. Donovan was named the MLS Cup MVP. In October 2012, Donovan expressed his desire to take a break from his professional soccer career, citing physical and mental exhaustion as the main reasons. In LA Galaxy's next match, the MLS Cup 2012, a rematch with Houston, Donovan converted a penalty kick in the 65th minute of play to give LA a 2–1 lead. The goal was Donovan's fifth in MLS Cup Finals. LA Galaxy went on to win their second straight MLS Cup, 3–1. Donovan returned to training with LA Galaxy on March 25, 2013, and made his season debut five days later against Toronto, coming on as a 61st-minute substitute. However, upon his return, it was announced he would be forced to relinquish the captaincy to Robbie Keane for the 2013 season. He scored two goals against Chivas USA, tying him with Jeff Cunningham together as the top MLS goalscorer with 134 goals. On May 25, 2014, Donovan scored twice against the Philadelphia Union to break Cunningham's record of 134, making Donovan MLS's All-Time leading goalscorer with 136 goals. On August 6, 2014, he scored the winning goal at the 2014 MLS All-Star Game, putting the ball past Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer at the 70th minute, he was subsequently substituted for Sporting Kansas City striker Dom Dwyer and gave the captain's armband to Canadian international Will Johnson. On August 7, 2014, Donovan announced he would be retiring at the end of the 2014 Major League Soccer season; the season ended with LA Galaxy winning MLS Cup 2014 as well their fourth MLS Cup of the Donovan era on December 7, 2014.
