By Ridge Mahoney
Senior Editor, Soccer America Magazine
The World Cup spotlight awaits Landon Donovan, who since the 2002 tournament has matured into an essential member of the U.S. team and one of its leaders.
As he trudged off a Florida practice field after a training session notable for his lethargy, Landon Donovan knew Coach Bruce Arena would have something to say regarding his performance. He wasnÆt disappointed.
''I donÆt know what it is, man,'' replied a sweaty Donovan, his shoulders sagging, his eyes on the grass.
''Old age, maybe?'' retorted Arena, mindful that in February 2003 more than a month separated Donovan from his 21st birthday.
DonovanÆs face tightened for an instant, but seeing ArenaÆs jibe had been delivered with an ironic smile, he grinned back with a shake of his head.
''He understands me,'' says Donovan of Arena, under whose mentoring and tutelage a brilliant prodigy has matured into a leader, catalyst, millionaire, and sometimes captain. ''He understands almost everybody, almost better than they understand themselves on the soccer field. ThereÆs a very high mutual respect. There are very few times he needs to tell me to get going. I feel that I owe that to him.''
Donovan acknowledges Arena didnÆt have to play him at the 2002 World Cup.
''He was very close to not playing me the first game,'' Donovan says. ''He gave me that chance.''
By gambling on 20-year-olds DaMarcus Beasley and Donovan and other World Cup debutants in 2002, Arena let loose a brash team molded in his image, bent on beating teams with flash and dash, not boring them into submission via caution and fear.
In Donovan, Arena found his talisman who helped lead the USA to the quarterfinals four years ago and must excel if it is to even get out of its group in 2006.
''I want us to do well,'' says Donovan, ''and I know part of that is me bringing it. And thatÆs my intention.''
The pressure is on Donovan unlike four years ago. The German press is prepared to pounce on the ingrate who swatted away a European opportunity as if was a bothersome pest. The Czechs, Italians and Ghanaians know who drives the U.S. attack. And so do the American fans, many of whom believe for all he does on the field, there must be more.
There are myriad facets to Landon Donovan, and seldom do they seamlessly assimilate.
THE PRODIGY. Ever since he took up with Latino-laced youth teams in Southern California and devoted himself to learning Spanish so his tricky teammates would pass him the ball more than once a week, Donovan has ridden on the edge, defying the norm, going his own way, driven by conflicting forces of ambition, talent and impatience.
He has a rationale for every tough decision heÆs made about his life and his career. He doesnÆt apologize for living close to his mom and twin sister and forsaking Europe to pose as MLS poster boy. He chafes under accusations he coasts through MLS games and flips the switch to ''go'' only if and when he feels like it. By winning playoff games for the Galaxy against San Jose and Colorado, as he did last year, or turning around a U.S. game with just a few moments of legerdemain, the point is relevant.
''Soccer, you can go 10 minutes, literally, without seeing the ball,'' Donovan says. ''SoccerÆs a completely different game. ThereÆs just one ball among 22 people. When you get the chance, you have to make something happen, and more often than not I do that.''
Since he was first spotted by Bayer Leverkusen as a teenager, DonovanÆs talent has been a lightning rod. He set off for Leverkusen in 1999, shortly before he turned 17, with a four-year, $400,000 ''amateur'' contract that would be renegotiated upon him agreeing to a new deal as a ''professional.''
Later that year came the Under-17 World Championship in New Zealand. DonovanÆs scything runs, daring dribbles, and nose for the net brought three goals, the Golden Ball as the tournamentÆs MVP (Beasley won the Silver Ball) and acclaim as a budding star. The next year DonovanÆs ascension hung suspended, as the late Clive Charles used him only sparingly as the USA finished fourth at the 2000 Olympics.
''Post-Olympics, I should have been angry and I should have been pissed off and I should have been this and that,'' says Donovan. ''You couldnÆt do that with Clive. He was honest with me. He never lied to me, never told me I was going to play and then didnÆt play me. He wanted to play other guys, and thatÆs what he went with. He had his reasons for that and we succeeded. We got to the semifinals. ItÆs hard for someone to say he didnÆt make the right decision.''
Soon thereafter, with his 18-year-old client resentful at being mired on the bench at Leverkusen, agent Richard Motzkin brokered a deal to bring him to San Jose, which won two MLS titles in three seasons under Coach Frank Yallop.
''I saw right away he could play in the [English] Premier League or any league in the world, if he really wanted to,'' says Yallop, who left MLS after the 2003 season to coach the Canadian national team. ''Still, he was very young, and not always up to it, traveling back and forth from the national team.
''There were times I didnÆt play him. Not many, but a few. He didnÆt like it, but he understood it. ThatÆs part of being a professional.''
THE ICON. A decade ago, defender Alexi Lalas wore the mantle as American soccer icon, for reasons of celebrity more than audacious ability. As president and general manager of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Lalas oversees the rationing of DonovanÆs time. The team restricts access to him, fending off requests for interviews, photo shoots, personal appearances, celebrity powwows, political shindigs, television sitdowns and the like.
But busy as Donovan is in L.A., heÆs found the right club situation. His first stint at Bayer Leverkusen as a teenager scarred him, and he terminated his second stint after a few months. He often left fans in San Jose pleading for his autograph by bolting right after games to be with his actress girlfriend, Bianca Kajlich, in Southern California. Upon his return to MLS to play for the Galaxy in 2005, winning an MLS Cup and U.S. Open Cup double merely magnified DonovanÆs stature and exponentially increased demands with the World Cup approaching.
''HeÆs often put under tremendous individual pressure, and at times rightly so, but at other times unjustly,'' says Lalas. ''He teases people by taking over games at times. The pressures are mostly external, for thatÆs what people expect. ItÆs dangerous to do that. The reality is, heÆs a marked man, and his ability, even under these pressures, to still at times change games completely individually and take the team on his shoulders is remarkable.''
THE ATHLETE. Think of Magic Johnson sailing up the court to zip a pass to a teammate breaking for the hoop or go for the bucket himself. Think of Wayne Gretzky slicing through opponents to snap the puck into the net or skim a perfect pass.
TheyÆre who Donovan idolized growing up in Southern California and watched rapturously: Johnson with the Lakers and Gretzky with Kings. Both creators and finishers. Both blessed with lightning-fast motor skills and razor-sharp instincts. Both two touches ahead of anyone else.
DonovanÆs speed, skills and vision are mostly genetic. His father, Tim, a semipro hockey player, had that gift of seeing the unseen, of sensing gaps and seams and reacting adroitly at the right instant.
''IÆd be watching him play,'' recalls Donovan, ''and he could always make that no-look pass, you know, the one where at first you think, æWhereÆs that going?Æ Then you see the winger breaking over the blue line, the puck hitting him right in stride, and heÆs going in alone on the goalie, and itÆs, æOh, now I get it.Æ''
An uncanny fusion of mind and body allows Donovan to measure time and space and angles so precisely as to infuriate pursuers and astonish observers. Gretzky is one of a very rare breed of humans referred to as ''physical geniuses,'' and when scientists get around to attaching Donovan to the calibrators, gauges and machines that measure such things, he may join the club.
''I think heÆs special because heÆs got a combination of speed and stamina that is not common,'' says U.S. fitness coach Pierre Barrieu, whoÆs been working extensively with Donovan since his hiring five years ago. ''You see a lot of players, and athletes in general, who are fast or can run forever. HeÆs one of the few that can actually do both.''
And thereÆs been improvement, both in stamina and DonovanÆs explosiveness, by which heÆs sharpened his prowess in the air. Yet perhaps DonovanÆs most perplexing attribute is keeping tacklers just out of reach with changes of speed and direction and accompanying touches that are nearly impossible to predict.
''It doesnÆt look like heÆs trying too hard,'' U.S. teammate Clint Dempsey. ''IitÆs like he just glides. I guess itÆs just genetics. He always has just enough space.''
THE LEADER. Donovan didnÆt need to lead upon arriving in San Jose, which had veterans Ronnie Ekelund, Joe Cannon, Jeff Agoos, Troy Dayak and Manny Lagos to carry YallopÆs message to the troops.
Yet the best players, whether it suits their personality or not, eventually must shoulder a large chunk of that burden. The dynamics of a team sport, in which players battle together in pursuit of a cause, demand it. At the U-17 and U-20 championships, Donovan led the charge, and he will do so again.
Arena has loaded a lot on Donovan. With several 2002 veterans no longer on hand, Donovan has proclaimed a willingness to bear it. Arena prepares his players meticulously and rehearses tactics thoroughly, but insists their instincts and camaraderie take over once the game begins.
''Talent-wise, looking at our roster, weÆre deeper from one to 23 and a better team,'' observes Donovan. ''The thing we donÆt have that we did four years ago are as many clear leaders. That falls on me, too. It falls on DaMarcus, too, Pablo, guys not generally super-vocal and you donÆt typify as a leader, but those are things that we need.
''Bruce was very candid and honest and said, æNot only do I want you to do this and not only do you need to do this for yourself, but your teammates expect this now. YouÆre not a 20-year-old playing in your first game against Portugal, youÆre now someone whoÆs played in a lot of games and you need to be a leader.Æ
''I took that to heart and I take that seriously. People expect that of me and I need to perform.''
(This article originally appeared in the June 2006 issue of Soccer America Magazine.)