Landon Donovan to retire from professional soccer after losing 'passion'
• LA Galaxy and USA star will retire at end of season
• Says: ‘I am sad to leave profession which brought so much joy’
The Los Angeles Galaxy and USA forward Landon Donovan on Thursday announced his retirement at the end of the current season.
At an afternoon press conference in Los Angeles, Donovan said he had decided to retire after realising he did not have the “passion” for the game he once had.
The 32-year-old, who scored the MLS All-Stars’ winning goal in a controversial game against German champions Bayern Munich on Wednesday night and was named the game’s MVP, made his announcement earlier on Thursday, on Twitter: “After careful deliberation, I have decided that this will be my last season as a professional soccer player.”
In a longer statement posted to Facebook, he said: “I don’t write these words lightly and this day carries mixed emotions for me. I am sad to leave a profession that has brought me so much joy.
“However, after spending half my life as a professional soccer player, I also am excited to begin a new chapter and pursue other opportunities that will challenge me and allow me to grow as a person.”
In 2012, citing tiredness, Donovan stepped temporarily away from the game. That meant he missed a key World Cup qualifying match and though he returned to the field and was recalled to the national team, his relationship with coach Jürgen Klinsmann was believed not to have recovered. The two men also had a brief and unhappy time together at Bayern Munich.
Donovan failed to make Klinsmann’s squad for this summer’s World Cup in Brazil, leading to media controversy. After his omission, Donovan said: “I thought if I was only judged on what happened in camp, I deserved to be in Brazil. It’s disappointing.”
On Thursday, addressing the way news of his retirement had circulated before he released his statement, he said he had therefore had to have some “not so pleasant conversations” because “unfortunately, some people chose to release the news before I had the chance to tell my team-mates”.
He added: “When I hear comments about [my] being a bad locker-room guy … those things bother me.”
The US Soccer president, Sunil Gulati, called Donovan “quite simply the best player” ever to play for the USA. Everton, who employed the forward in two successful loan spells in the Premier League, issued a statement saying he was “part of [the] EFC fabric”.
US internationals including Tim Howard and DeAndre Yedlin paid their tributes through Twitter.
The Galaxy’s last scheduled game of the regular season is on 25 October, away to the Seattle Sounders; their last home game is also against Seattle, on Sunday 19 October. LA are currently third in the MLS Western Conference, well placed to reach the postseason playoffs.
At the press conference the Galaxy coach, Bruce Arena, said: “I have a hard time thinking if there’s another American player who has accomplished what Landon has … that’s quite a legacy.”
A Galaxy player since 2005, and an MLS Cup winner in 2005, 2011 and 2012, with 138 goals Donovan is the leading scorer in MLS history. He began his senior career with the San Jose Earthquakes and also played for Bayer Leverkusen.
He won 156 USA caps and scored a record 57 goals, playing at the 2002, 2006 and 2010 World Cup finals and scoring five times. One of those goals was a famous injury-time winner against Algeria in 2010, which sent the US through to the second round.
