Beau Dure, of USA Today, gives a synopsis of Landon Donovan's career and the player's maturity on and off the field. This year, Donovan has drawn more media attention than ever. Much of the attention comes because of his performance. Donovan has helped push the U.S. national team to the brink of qualification for the World Cup. He has also led the Los Angeles Galaxy toward a playoff run and its best season in over three years in what could be the attacker's last before moving to a more glamorous European club. Off the field, Donovan spurred controversy when he criticized teammate David Beckham's commitment in Grant Wahl's book, "The Beckham Experiment." Also, Donovan has recently separated from his wife, actress Bianca Kajlich.
But Donovan, 27, deals with these pressures with remarkable serenity, with a positive emotional and mental approach that he has honed over the years. "I am in control of what I do," Donovan says. "Before, I thought different things determined how I would play or how I would respond or how I would act on the field. I know what's in me and how to bring it out of me." His coaches and teammates have also noted Donovan's positive maturity. "The strides he's taken in the past couple of years is tremendous," Galaxy teammate Chris Klein says. "He's grown as a soccer player and as a person. He's maturing."
Still, Donovan has his critics. Former U.S. national team star Eric Wynalda, whose U.S. national team goalscoring record Donovan has already shattered, took a shot at Donovan on the TV show "Fox Football Fone-In" by saying that Donovan tends to play well when the games are easy. But those around Donovan this season, his coaches and teammates, have nothing but praise for his performance. Klein jumped in to defend his teammate from Wynalda's criticism: "I guess if Spain in the semifinals of the Confederations Cup is easy and Brazil in the final of the Confederations Cup is easy, and all the goals he scored in MLS – if that's easy, then a lot of those critics are right," Klein says. "A guy of his caliber is always going to have his critics. For someone to criticize him for his play this year is a little bit mind-boggling." Donovan also insists such criticism doesn't faze him. "I think everybody in the soccer world knows the jealousy issues that Eric carries," Donovan said. "I don't think two seconds about what Eric has to say."
"There's two parts," Donovan says about answering criticism. "One is: I'm the only person who lives my life. So I have to make my decisions for myself. Second is: I'm done worrying about things I can't control, which is also a nice place to get to mentally."