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Landon Donovan
Donovan (left) playing against Jamaica in 2006.
Personal information
Full name	Landon Timothy Donovan
Date of birth	March 4, 1982 (1982-03-04) (age 26)
Place of birth	Redlands, California, USA
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Playing position	Forward / Attacking midfielder / Winger
Club information
Current club	Los Angeles Galaxy
Number	10
Youth clubs
1999-2001	Bayer Leverkusen
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2001-2005 2001-2004 2005-	Bayer Leverkusen → San Jose Earthquakes (loan) Los Angeles Galaxy	07 0(0) 87 (32) 89 (48)
National team2
2000-	United States	102 (36)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 August 2008. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 9 June 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Landon Timothy Donovan (born March 4, 1982 in Redlands, California), is an American professional soccer player on the Los Angeles Galaxy and is the all-time leading scorer for the United States men's national soccer team.^[1][2] Donovan has also been recognized as one of the finest American soccer players of this century and is the only four-time winner of the Honda Player of the Year award.^[3]

Early Life/Career

Landon, the son of Timothy Donovan and Donna Kenney-Cash, grew up in Redlands, California, and attended Redlands East Valley High School. Landon signed a professional contract with Bayer Leverkusen, but not before playing in the U.S. Soccer Residency program at Bradenton with four of his current U.S teamates including Oguchi Onyewu, DaMarcus Beasley and Bobby Convey.

San Jose Earthquakes

He was unhappy with his situation in Germany, was loaned to the San Jose Earthquakes, playing in Major League Soccer, 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 most recognizable faces of soccer in America.^[4] In four years in the league, he scored 32 goals and 29 assists in league play, and 10 goals and six assists in the playoffs. Donovan was named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year in 2003.^[5]

Bayer Leverkusen

On June 3, 2004, Bayer Leverkusen announced that Donovan would return to the club in 2005, and Landon followed suit, announcing his return to Germany on November 23, 2004. He then became the first man to be named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year two years in a row,^[5] taking the award for that year.

After several games at Leverkusen, with Donovan only garnering two starts, Donovan was put into the starting line-up in a Champions League encounter versus Liverpool. Many have claimed that Donovan was a failure in Europe as a result of this game. During the game, Donovan passed the ball to a Liverpool player leading to a counterattack goal in the 3-1 loss.

Landon stated his intentions to come back to MLS, and despite a late offer from English club Portsmouth, club officials respected his wishes. However, because San Jose GM Alexi Lalas had traded away Donovan's rights, the Galaxy were able to trade leading scorer Carlos Ruiz, a striker, to FC Dallas to get on top of the allocation pecking order one week before the season started.^[6]

Los Angeles Galaxy

In his first season with the Galaxy, Donovan scored 12 league goals and 10 assists and added four goals and an assist in the playoffs as the Galaxy won the MLS Cup (his third MLS championship to date). He was named to the MLS All-Time Best XI after the season.^[7] In his second season with the Galaxy, Donovan scored 12 league goals and 8 assists. Donovan also scored 3 goals in the Open Cup. Despite this, Donovan and the Galaxy failed to make the playoffs and lost in the Open Cup to Chicago Fire. Donovan's playoff goals make him MLS' 2nd all-time leading scorer in the playoffs with 14, behind Carlos Ruiz with 15.^[8] In the 2007 Superliga tournament, Donovan was the top scorer. Donovan scored a goal in every game except for the Final, where he missed the game winning penalty kick despite rarely missing from the spot. On April 26, 2008, Donovan scored his second career MLS hat trick, giving him 72 all time regular season goals. He now has 80 all time regular season goals. This put him ninth on the league's all time scoring list.

Donovan has been in excellent form in the 2008 season with the Galaxy, scoring 16 goals and 7 assists in the 18 games this season, forming a deadly offensive partnership with David Beckham.

International career

Donovan was a member of the inaugural class at the national soccer academy in Bradenton, Florida and is, along with DaMarcus Beasley, considered the program's most successful graduate. He won the Golden Ball at the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championships as best player.

After starring in the 2000 Summer Olympics, he earned his first cap for the U.S. National Team on October 25, 2000 against Mexico, scoring on his debut. He was a crucial asset to the United States' run to the quarterfinals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea/Japan, scoring two goals along the way to being named Best Young Player for the 2002 World Cup. Through the 2006 FIFA World Cup, he has amassed 88 caps for the U.S., scoring 35 goals, including a four-goal game against Cuba in 2003. On April 11, 2006, Landon became the United States' all-time assist leader with 23 when he set up Ben Olsen. The previous all-time assist leader was the Cobi Jones.^[9]

After his impressive performances in Asia, Landon had high expectations going into the 2006 World Cup, but was the subject of much criticism for his play as the US failed to advance out of the group stage.

The hiring of Bob Bradley as national team coach had little effect on Donovan's international role as Donovan has continued to be the focal point of the American attack in recent years and frequently captains the squad. Donovan reached 100 caps at the age of 26 on June 8th, 2008 in a friendly against Argentina.

Donovan has worn both numbers 21 and 10 on the national team, the latter when Claudio Reyna was unavailable. As a result of Reyna's retirement from the national team, Donovan now wears the number 10 full-time. He is currently the all time leading goalscorer of the US national team with 36 goals.

Personal life

Donovan wed actress Bianca Kajlich on December 31, 2006. The couple currently reside in Manhattan Beach, California.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	2000-10-25	Los Angeles, California	Mexico	1-0	2-0	Friendly match
2	2002-01-19	Pasadena, California	Korea Republic	1-0	2-1	2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup
3	2002-03-02	Seattle, Washington	Honduras	2-0	4-0	Friendly match
4	2002-03-02	Seattle, Washington	Honduras	4-0	4-0	Friendly match
5	2002-05-16	East Rutherford, New Jersey	Jamaica	4-0	5-0	Friendly match
6	2002-06-14	Daejeon, South Korea	Poland	1-3	1-3	2002 FIFA World Cup
7	2002-06-17	Jeonju, South Korea	Mexico	2-0	2-0	2002 FIFA World Cup
8	2003-03-29	Seattle, Washington	Venezuela	2-0	2-0	Friendly match
9	2003-05-26	San Jose, California	Wales	1-0	2-0	Friendly match
10	2003-07-06	Columbus, Ohio	Paraguay	1-0	2-0	Friendly match
11	2003-07-19	Foxboro, Massachusetts	Cuba	1-0	5-0	2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup
12	2003-07-19	Foxboro, Massachusetts	Cuba	2-0	5-0	2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup
13	2003-07-19	Foxboro, Massachusetts	Cuba	4-0	5-0	2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup
14	2003-07-19	Foxboro, Massachusetts	Cuba	5-0	5-0	2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup
15	2004-01-18	Carson, California	Denmark	1-1	1-1	Friendly match
16	2004-06-20	St. Georges, Grenada	Grenada	1-0	3-2	2006 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
17	2004-09-04	Foxboro, Massachusetts	El Salvador	2-0	2-0	2006 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
18	2004-10-13	Washington, D.C.	Panama	1-0	6-0	2006 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
19	2004-10-13	Washington, D.C.	Panama	2-0	6-0	2006 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
20	2005-06-04	Salt Lake City, Utah	Costa Rica	1-0	3-0	2006 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
21	2005-06-04	Salt Lake City, Utah	Costa Rica	2-0	3-0	2006 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
22	2005-06-08	Panama City, Panama	Panama	2-0	3-0	2006 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
23	2005-07-07	Seattle, Washington	Cuba	2-1	4-1	2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup
24	2005-07-07	Seattle, Washington	Cuba	4-1	4-1	2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup
25	2005-07-09	Seattle, Washington	Canada	2-0	2-0	2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup
26	2007-01-20	Carson, California	Denmark	1-1	3-1	Friendly match
27	2007-02-07	Glendale, Arizona	Mexico	2-0	2-0	Friendly match
28	2007-03-25	Tampa, Florida	Ecuador	1-0	3-1	Friendly match
29	2007-03-25	Tampa, Florida	Ecuador	2-1	3-1	Friendly match
30	2007-03-25	Tampa, Florida	Ecuador	3-1	3-1	Friendly match
31	2007-06-12	Foxboro, Massachusetts	El Salvador	4-0	4-0	2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup
32	2007-06-16	Foxboro, Massachusetts	Panama	1-0	2-1	2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup
33	2007-06-21	Chicago, Illinois	Canada	2-0	2-1	2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup
34	2007-06-24	Chicago, Illinois	Mexico	1-1	2-1	2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup
35	2008-01-19	Carson, California	Sweden	2-0	2-0	Friendly match
36	2008-06-15	Carson, California	Barbados	4-0	8-0	2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying

Honors

San Jose Earthquakes

• MLS Cup (2): 2001, 2003

Los Angeles Galaxy

• MLS Cup: 2005 Champion
• Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup: 2005 Champion
• SuperLiga: 2007 Runner-Up

International

• 2000 Summer Olympic Fourth Place
• 2002 FIFA World Cup Best Young Player
• 2002 FIFA World Cup Quarterfinal
• 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup Champion
• 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup Third Place
• 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup Champion
• 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup Champion

Personal

• U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year (2): 2003, 2004
• Honda Player of the Year (4): 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007
• MLS All-Time Best XI: 2005

See also

• List of current MLS players

References

External links

• LandonDonovan.com Landon Donovan's Official Website
• Landon Donovan Profile at MLSNet.com

• Landon Donovan's U.S. Olympic Team profile
• Leverkusen Who's who
• Landon Donovan on Yanks Abroad
• RSSSF Archive
• Football Database Profile and Statistics for Landon Donovan

v • d • e United States squad – 2000 Summer Olympics 1 Friedel • 2 Dunseth • 3 McCarty • 4 Agoos • 5 O'Brien • 6 Hejduk • 7 DiGiamarino • 8 Califf • 9 Olsen • 10 Vagenas • 11 Albright • 12 Corrales • 13 Donovan • 14 Victorine • 15 Whitfield • 16 Wolff • 17 Casey • 18 Howard • Coach: Charles

v • d • e United States squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Friedel • 2 Hejduk • 3 Berhalter • 4 Mastroeni • 5 O'Brien • 6 Regis • 7 Lewis • 8 Stewart • 9 Moore • 10 Reyna • 11 Mathis • 12 Agoos • 13 Jones • 14 Cherundolo • 15 Wolff • 16 Llamosa • 17 Beasley • 18 Keller • 19 Meola • 20 McBride • 21 Donovan • 22 Sanneh • 23 Pope • Coach: Arena

v • d • e United States squad – 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup 1 Cannon • 2 Hejduk • 3 Berhalter • 4 Mastroeni • 5 Vanney • 6 Cherundolo • 7 Lewis • 8 Stewart • 9 Kirovski • 10 Donovan • 11 Mathis • 12 Bocanegra • 13 Martino • 14 Armas • 15 Convey • 16 Califf • 17 Beasley • 18 Howard • 19 Hahnemann • 20 Twellman • 21 Cunningham • 22 Klein • 23 Gibbs • Coach: Arena

v • d • e United States squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Howard • 2 Albright • 3 Bocanegra • 4 Mastroeni • 5 O'Brien • 6 Cherundolo • 7 Lewis • 8 Dempsey • 9 Johnson • 10 Reyna • 11 Ching • 12 Berhalter • 13 Conrad • 14 Olsen • 15 Convey • 16 Wolff • 17 Beasley • 18 Keller • 19 Hahnemann • 20 McBride • 21 Donovan • 22 Onyewu • 23 Pope • Coach: Arena