Landon Timothy Donovan (born March 4, 1982 in
Ontario, California), is an American professional
soccer player on the Los Angeles Galaxy, who is the
all-time leading scorer for the United States men's
national soccer team. He is the only four-time
winner of the Honda Player of the Year award.
Landon is the son of Timothy Donovan, and Donna
Kenney Cash. Donovan 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 US
Soccer Residency program at Bradenton with 4 of his
current U.S teamates including Oguchi Onyewu,
DaMarcus Beasley and Bobby Convey.
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. 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.
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 an asset to the United States' run to
the quarterfinals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup in
Korea/Japan, scoring two goals. He was also named
Best Young Player Award for the 2002 World Cup.
Through the 2006 FIFA World Cup, he has amassed 88
caps for the US, scoring 30 goals, including a rare
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 Cobi Jones.
Landon wore 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.
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, taking the award for that year.
After several games at Leverkusen, with Donovan only
garnering two starts, Landon stated his intentions
to come back to MLS, and 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.
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.
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, Landon 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.
Fans have criticized Donovan for returning to MLS,
instead of staying in Europe at Bayer Leverkusen.
Many also criticized Landon for his poor performance
on the US national team at the 2006 World Cup in
Germany.
Landon Donovan wed Bianca Kajlich on December 31,
2006. She is one of the leading female roles
(Jennifer) on the CBS sitcom, Rules of Engagement.
Landon speaks fluent Spanish. The couple currently
reside in Manhattan Beach, California, they appeared
on an episode of MTV Cribs in 2006.
