SANDY, Utah – Real Salt Lake captain Kyle Beckerman hopes that Landon Donovan doesn't play his final MLS game in the first round of the playoffs.
Oh, don't get Beckerman wrong. He's certainly not rooting for the LA Galaxy to beat RSL in the Western Conference semifinals of the MLS Cup Playoffs, which begins Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium (8 pm ET; NBCSN).
“I'm just hoping he gets a little Brett Favre syndrome and he retires for a couple years and then comes back to Salt Lake and plays with us for a little bit,” Beckerman said with a smile.
Donovan, of course, announced his retirement in August and these playoffs will be his farewell tour – regardless of the outcome.
“It's a special year for Landon for sure,” said RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando, who like Beckerman is a former USMNT teammate of Donovan's. “And I'm sure his teammates are going to do everything they can to get him to the final. But we're a team that's hopefully going to be in their way.”
RSL head coach Jeff Cassar sees the drive to win MLS Cup for Donovan as a bit of a double-edged sword for the Galaxy.
“You could look at it that it's added pressure to make sure he goes out on top,” Cassar told reporters. “In the playoffs, you want to be extremely focused on the task at hand. And if the task at hand is only to keep Landon playing, that's not the proper message. And I'm sure coach [Bruce] Arena, that's not his message to his players. It's about preparing his whole team.”
Which is Cassar's message to his team.
“We're not talking about Landon at all,” he said. “We’re talking about ourselves and what it's going to take to beat them.”
Still, it seems that any team taking on fan-favorite Donovan will be cast as villain.
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“I've been telling these guys already – the storybook ending is probably [for] LA to play New York in [the MLS Cup final].” Beckerman said. “And we've got to just change the story and create a new storyline that has us going to the finals and win it.”
RSL defender Tony Beltran said he and his teammates are accustomed to the Galaxy being in the media spotlight.
“So nothing really changes there,” he told reporters. “I think people are expecting them to win. Maybe people around the league want to see Landon win it. It doesn't really matter to me.
“I'll shake his hand, and then go out there and try to shut him down.”
Which is not to say that he doesn't have enormous respect for Donovan.
“He's a tremendous inspiration,” Beltran said. “He's the best player the league has ever seen. He's the best player U.S. soccer has ever produced, no matter how he ends this season.”
Beckerman, who's played with and against Donovan since they were both teenagers, agreed.
“He's had a great career. He's had a ton of success. He's won enough championships, so maybe he'll let this one slide this year,” he said with a laugh. “I know Landon doesn't like to lose, especially his last playoff. So it's going to take everything we've got. It's going to take just a really focused two games.
“But we feel like if we can do the right things and play the way we can, we can come out on top.”
