Donovan announced back in August that he would retire at the end of the MLS season, which runs into November. While November hasn't hit yet (thankfully), Donovan did retire from the team he is most known for on Friday. That is the US Men's National Team. While he was noticeably absent from the 2014 World Cup, he has been on the team every year for at least one appearance since 2000. He's appeared 156 times, with 57 goals scored in those appearances.He holds two USMNT World Cup records, being the all-time goal scorer and the all-time assists leader. All- time. As in, he is the best soccer player from the United States to play in the World Cup.
He's played all over the world, including for the best team in Germany, Bayern Munich, who themselves the last couple years have won several titles, including European champions, and for Everton in England. He will end his career with the LA Galaxy, and will end as the MLS's all time top scorers, with 136 goals. He'll end his career as the best that American Soccer has to offer, a player that doesn't come around often. But he gets only a short segment on ESPN. Why? Because soccer just isn't popular here. We only watch once every four years, and that's when the World Cup comes around. But when we watched, we watched the best that our country had to offer dominating every chance he got. He became a household name when he played a sport most people lose interest in after high school or college. He brought the attention of the American people to a sport that is revered all around the world, even if it was but for a few short weeks every four years. He was truly one of the greatest ambassadors the sport could ask for.
He may have statistically had one of the best careers he could have asked for, but every fourth June, he got people riled up for a sport they normally wouldn't think twice about. Why? Because he was good. He scored. The USMNT never won World Cup titles, but we watched with bated breath, hoping we would advance in the competition because of him. We never expected to win the title, but we had fun watching to see how far we would get, and for that fun and excitement, we have Mr. Donovan to thank. We'll still have our great players to watch, such as Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard, but it will be different without Landon Donovan on the pitch too. So, thank you Mr. Donovan. Thank you for bringing the attention of the American people to the World's sport. Thank you for being a great ambassador. And thank you for representing our country in a way that made us proud.
He's played all over the world, including for the best team in Germany, Bayern Munich, who themselves the last couple years have won several titles, including European champions, and for Everton in England. He will end his career with the LA Galaxy, and will end as the MLS's all time top scorers, with 136 goals. He'll end his career as the best that American Soccer has to offer, a player that doesn't come around often. But he gets only a short segment on ESPN. Why? Because soccer just isn't popular here. We only watch once every four years, and that's when the World Cup comes around. But when we watched, we watched the best that our country had to offer dominating every chance he got. He became a household name when he played a sport most people lose interest in after high school or college. He brought the attention of the American people to a sport that is revered all around the world, even if it was but for a few short weeks every four years. He was truly one of the greatest ambassadors the sport could ask for. He may have statistically had one of the best careers he could have asked for, but every fourth June, he got people riled up for a sport they normally wouldn't think twice about. Why? Because he was good. He scored. The USMNT never won World Cup titles, but we watched with bated breath, hoping we would advance in the competition because of him. We never expected to win the title, but we had fun watching to see how far we would get, and for that fun and excitement, we have Mr. Donovan to thank. We'll still have our great players to watch, such as Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard, but it will be different without Landon Donovan on the pitch too. So, thank you Mr. Donovan. Thank you for bringing the attention of the American people to the World's sport. Thank you for being a great ambassador. And thank you for representing our country in a way that made us proud.
Brent "Chunk" Kruger
Contributing Writer to IzzyLegit
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