CARSON, Calif. – Landon Donovan is just hours away from the close of his international career, set for his final appearance in a farewell match Friday night against Ecuador in East Hartford, Connecticut (7 pm ET, ESPN and UniMas).
He'll put on the captain's armband and the No. 10 US national team jersey one last time, and after a projected 30 minutes he'll undoubtedly come off to a hail of flashbulbs and a standing ovation unlike any American soccer has seen.
It all started for him nearly 14 years earlier, on Oct. 25, 2000, when Bruce Arena plugged him in for an injured Chris Henderson about a half-hour into a friendly with Mexico at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Over the next hour, Donovan, just 18, started building his legend, scoring five minutes into the second half and then delivering the cross for Josh Wolff's late finish in a 2-0 victory in front of some 61,072 fans, most of them cheering for the away side.
Along with the last-minute goal he scored to lift the US past Algeria and into the knockout stage of the 2010 World Cup, it's the most vital memory Donovan has of his 156 appearances for the USMNT.
“It was crazy,” Donovan said this week at StubHub Center, as he and his LA Galaxy teammates prepared for Sunday's showdown at FC Dallas (7 pm ET, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, TSN2 in Canada). “I remember there being a lot of Mexicans in the Coliseum, I remember not expecting to play, and within minutes of Chris Henderson going down, just not having time to really think about going into the game.
“And from there, obviously, it was a dream come true in every way. It's a game I'll never forget.”
Donovan was already a known quantity in American soccer, the breakout star at the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Cup in New Zealand, where he won the Golden Ball as MVP, who then helped the US U-23s reach the semifinals at the Sydney Olympics the following year.
But the chance to play for the full national team, in his own backyard and against the Americans' archrivals, was something else entirely.
“For guys my age, we didn't grow up with MLS, really, and the ultimate goal was to play for the national team,” Donovan said. “That's all you saw on TV. … For me, that was my only goal, because I didn't know anything different.”
He says the experience was “just surreal.”
“I didn't know any better, and thankfully so,” he said. “I was just too young and dumb to know what was going on. I just ran around, and it all worked out.”
It worked out wonderfully over the next decade and beyond, with Donovan playing in three World Cups before he was controversially omitted from the US roster this year in Brazil, and setting US records for goals (57) and assists (58).
His best games during his tenure?
“I'd probably pick two,” Donovan said. “One would be the game against Germany in the World Cup in '02 [a 1-0 quarterfinal defeat]. I think I played well, except for not scoring. And two, I think, was the the '09 [Confederations Cup] semifinal [victory] against Spain. I think that's probably the single best game I've ever played from beginning to end in all ways.”
The low point? The US U-23s' 4-0 loss to Mexico in 2004, which kept them out of the Athens Olympics.
Donovan had a long, at times fiery history against Mexico, and it's something he appreciates more as the end comes near.
“They've been a big part of my career, ups and downs,” he said about the Mexican national team. “What I've learned is that they've helped us so much, even though there's been some animosity and some negativity around it. Without them, the sport here doesn't grow the same way.
“I've had some rough times with games against them throughout my career, but at the end, when I look back, I have so much respect for everything that's been a part of the rivalry.”
What if the US could set up one last friendly, at home in LA, against Mexico for Donovan? Say, January? Any interest?
“I'll probably be 20 pounds heavier by then,” Donovan said. “So I don't think they'll want me. … I'm going to eat everything I see.”
Scott French covers the LA Galaxy for MLSsoccer.com.
