CARSON, Calif. – The end has come for Landon Donovan.
The US soccer legend will play his final professional game Sunday when his LA Galaxy take on the New England Revolution in the MLS Cup final at StubHub Center (3 pm ET on ESPN, UniMas, UDN, TSN1, RDS2).
It's starting to sink in.
“This week has been a little bit different that the past few because I personally didn't know [heading into the second legs of playoff series against Real Salt Lake and the Seattle Sounders] what was coming next,” Donovan said at a press conference involving both teams Friday morning at StubHub. “Now I know.
“I've been very excited every day to wake up and go to training. Candidly, I don’t want it to end right now. It's been a lot of fun. And I'm going to have that attitude Sunday. I personally want it to be as enjoyable as possible, and that would be winning.”
Donovan said he has processed the fact that he has only 90 minutes - perhaps 120 - remaining on his ledger, and that his focus now is on helping the Galaxy claim an unprecedented fifth MLS title, and third in four years.
A win would give him six championship rings, more than any other player in league history.
“Now, like everybody, I just want to play, and we want to win a championship,” he said. “And after that I’ll think about the rest. But I gave myself a few days earlier in the week to understand the finality of it. Now it's a game, and we're at home playing for a championship. We're all so programmed now to just play the next game, and that's where my mindset is right now.”
Donovan has been spectacular much of his final campaign, claiming MLS's career goals and assists records and his seventh spot on the MLS Best XI team, and he was asked what it would take for him to change his mind about retirement.
“Give him $20 million,” chimed in Galaxy captain Robbie Keane, sitting to Donovan's right.
“He's my agent,” Donovan quipped.
Said Keane: “I'll take half.”
Donovan has played in MLS since 2001, his first four years with the San Jose Earthquakes and since 2005 with LA, and has seen the league grow from a fledgling enterprise struggling to survive into a first-class organization luring top players from around the globe. He's played a key role in that evolution and acknowledges the growth has surpassed his expectations.
“I could've never in a million years imagined playing against Thierry Henry in brand new stadiums,” he said. “I could've never imagined playing with Robbie [Keane], a guy I followed as I became a professional and idolized so much. Playing with David [Beckham] for so many years, all those things, if you had said that in 2001, I would’ve said you're absolutely crazy.
“And so I think Bruce [Arena, Galaxy head coach/general manager] said it best the other day, that when some of these other leagues in our country were 30 or 40 years old, you could easily still get a ticket to the games, and they didn't have the popularity we have after 19 short years. And just sitting here in a room full of people like this is indicative of how far we’ve come.”
Donovan said he’s proud to have been a part of it all.
“I think everybody who plays in this league feels that, whether you've played a year or 20 years,” he said. “And I'm glad I've been through it.”
There was plenty of talk during the news conference about Donovan's legacy. Keane said it has been “an absolute honor to play with him” and called his contributions to the American game “absolutely tremendous.”
Donovan says he doesn't think much about such things.
“I always wanted to be a good teammate for my teammates and a good friend of everyone,” he said in Spanish. “The awards, I'm proud of all that, but more important for me is how I was as a person with [my teammates] and that we had success on the field.”
Arena defined Donovan's career simply.
“I would think his legacy is that he left the game as the greatest player in the history of US Soccer, and he's a damn good person,” Arena said. “That’s a pretty good legacy.”
