Landon Donovan Story

At the age of six, Landon joined an organized league and went on to score an impressive 7 goals in his 1^st game ever. Landon was a member of Cal Heat, based in Rancho Cucamonga under the coaching of Clint Greenwood. He attended the Redlands East Valley High School.

In 1997, Landon was accepted into the US Youth Soccer’s Olympic Development Program and went on to attend the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, as part of the US Soccer’s training program.

Career

Landon’s club career debut was in 1999 when he signed a 6-year contract with the German Bayer Leverkusen club.

In the 2001 Season, Landon was loaned to the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer and was instrumental in winning the team the MLS Cup championship twice – 2001 and 2003. He instantly became the most recognized American soccer player. He scored a total of 32 goals and 29 assists while in the league as well as 10 goals and 6 assists in the playoffs.

In 2005, the Los Angeles Galaxy managed to land Landon from Bayer Leverkusen. He started the first season with the LA Galaxy scoring 12 goals in the league matches as well as 10 assists and additional 4 goals and 1 assist in the playoffs as well. This helps the LA Galaxy clinch the MLS Cup.

In 2007, Landon had to relinquish his captaincy to David Beckham. He was the top-scorer in the 2007 Super Liga tournament as he scored a goal in every match except for the final. In 2008, despite the team’s lack of significant success in the season, Landon scored an impressive 20 goals and 9 assists in 25 games.

The Galaxy won the Supporter’s Shield twice – in 2010 and then again in 2011. In November of 2008, Landon started training with Bayern Munich after he was loaned to the German club till the start of the 2009 MLS season in March. He appeared in 5 friendly matches for Bayern Munich, where he scored a total of 4 goals.

In 2010, Landon joined the English side of Everton after finishing the 2009 MLS season. He scored 2 goals in a total of 13 matches in all tournaments. In his international career, Landon started with the US U-17 national soccer team and went on to win the Best Player of the Tournament in the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Championship. He played for 2 years and went on to score a total of 35 goals in 41 games.

In 2003, Landon joined the US senior soccer team as well as the US U-23 men’s national soccer team. In 2001, he was also a part of the US U-20 men’s national soccer team. In 2002, Landon made his World Cup Finals debut which began with the surprising loss of Portugal to the American team, 3-2. He went on to score in significant matches in the tournament till his team lost 1-0 to Germany in the quarterfinals.

In 2007, he led the US side to the 2007 Gold Cup title scoring 4 goals in the tournament, including the deciding goal in the penalty shoot-out against Mexico in the finals, winning it 2-1. In 2010, Landon was selected for the World Cup squad and played a total of 4 games; scoring crucial goals and helping the US side to win the World Cup group finals the first time since 1930.

Heights

Landon is the highest-scoring American player in the history of the World Cup as well as being the 3^rd American player to score in multiple World Cups.

Awards

Landon has won various awards and accolades for his uncanny dribbling and finishing skills that have helped him score crucial goals and to win his side some very revered football titles.

Landon Donovan's Farewell