What Landon Donovan’s Return to USMNT Would Mean to U.S. Soccer

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: April 5, 2013

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Last weekend, Landon Donovan finally returned from his four-month, self-imposed sabbatical from soccer and rejoined the L.A. Galaxy.

Despite the long layoff and only a couple of days of training with the team, Donovan played straight away in the Galaxy’s 2-2 away draw to Toronto FC, coming into the match as a 61st-minute substitute.

Several days earlier, as he began training with the Galaxy, Donovan said that his goal is to return to playing for the United States men’s national team.

I realize I have a long way to go both on the field and off the field to work my way back into the national team, and that's my goal. If that's something that presents itself, then that's something I want to do. I miss being a part of that and I want to represent my country again.

So, assuming that Donovan does return to the USMNT, what does that mean for the U.S.?

During Jurgen Klinsmann’s tenure as head coach of the U.S., Donovan has taken two extended breaks from international duty, the first coming from September 2011–May 2012 and the second starting in September 2012 and continuing to the present.



Donovan has missed some USMNT camps due to injuries, such as the knee contusion he suffered last fall, and some due to his more recent break from the game altogether.

In many of the games that Donovan has missed, there has been a genuine lack of flair in the U.S. attack and the team has generated few good goal-scoring chances. For example, in the U.S.’ three World Cup qualifying games in the Hexagonal, the team has only managed three shots on goal.

While Donovan no longer possesses the world-class speed that once made him an extremely dangerous striker, he still possesses the play-making ability that the U.S. squad currently lacks in the midfield.

Many critics of Donovan are quick to point out that a lot of his all-time national team record 49 g...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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