CARSON, Calif. - Landon Donovan walked off the field for the final time as a champion Sunday, enveloped himself in his teammates' locker-room chants of “one more year,” then dropped a bombshell.
“I was going to wait till the end [of this news conference],” he said following the LA Galaxy's 2-1 overtime triumph over the New England Revolution in the MLS Cup final, “but I've decided to come back.”
Say what?
“I'm just kidding,” he quickly added, to the regret of teammates, coaches and LA Galaxy fans everywhere -- fans all across America, really.
But if he has to exit, what better way than this.
Donovan ended his career in the best manner possible, parading the trophy before the home fans at StubHub Center, then taking a champagne shower with some of his closest friends.
“I'm in a little bit of a daze, to be honest,” he said afterward. “I don't know. There's a lot going on. There's a lot of obvious excitement. Some sadness. There's uncertainty. And just pure joy for this team and for what we did.
“It just feels a bit strange, I guess is the best way to put it. But all in all, I'm really proud of what this team accomplished this year, and it's so nice to be in that locker room and see so many happy faces, and for me that's as enjoyable as anything now, as you get older.”
Donovan announced in August that he would be calling it quits at season's end, however it finished, and he said Sunday that finishing with another title, the Galaxy's third in four years, was a dream come true.
“There were moments [this season] where I didn't want it to end like it was going to [with the Galaxy not in the title game],” he said. “It would've been sadder for it to end like that. For me, it's perfect.”
Donovan, who started on the left flank but then shifted to forward at halftime, departs as the most accomplished player in American soccer history, the all-time goals and assists leader in MLS and for the US national team, and, at 32, he certainly could play on at an advanced level for a few more years.
But he's always had broader interests, and a desire to do more than just chase a ball around year after year.
“As much excitement as there is about the game, there's excitement that tomorrow I don't have to train anymore,” he said. “I don't have to do a lot of the things that were the not-fun parts of the job. Along with that, I don't get experiences like today any more, either. So there's a lot of good, there's going to be some bad. But it feels good to go out this way.”
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He said his feelings at the final whistle were “so mixed and so wrapped up with so many different emotions. And so more than anything, it's joy. But it's really joy for the other guys who haven’t been a part of this. ... I know how much it means, and so it's so nice in this phase of my life to able to help contribute to that.”
Donovan's teammates were ecstatic to send him out on top.
“It's a perfect ending, and we all respect him so much, and we wanted to try to give him that little extra thing to end with,” defender Robbie Rogers said. “But for me personally, Landon was one of the guys who helped me get back into the game. I've always looked up to him, so for him to start the adventure of his new life and whatever he wants to do, I'm just so happy he can leave the Galaxy with his head held extremely high.”
Said midfielder Marcelo Sarvas: “I give my big hug after the game to him. I think before [coming to the Galaxy that he's] a great player, but he's an amazing person. This is what I'm going to miss more, in the locker room. I think he got what he deserved, finished like the big guy that he is.”
Head coach Bruce Arena also paid tribute to Donovan, who became the first player in MLS history to win six league titles.
“Landon has done the real [stuff] in the game. He's done it all. He's got very little left to give,” said Arena, who first brought Donovan into the national team in 2000. “So I'm so happy that he's made this decision. He's able to go out as a winner, and don't we all wish to be able to leave what we do like the way Landon left today, as a winner.
“So he ends his career ... arguably the greatest player in the history of the US Soccer national team program and in the league the all-time leading goal-scorer, assists, championships. What more can you say? Can you write that any better, that script? So I'm happy for him. He's spent. He's done.”
Donovan realizes there are many who don't want him to go. Including his teammates, some of whom reported - all kidding, of course - that Landon acquiesced when he was serenaded with “one more year.”
“The most important thing for me is that I have to live my life and I have to be happy,” he said. “I know it’s going to be difficult for some - also in my family there are some that are very sad. But the most important thing is that I'm sure in what I want to do in my life, and at the moment I feel really good, because I know that this is the right time for me [to retire].”
What will he miss most?
“There's no experience like what just happened,” Donovan said. “So if you work a desk job or a 9-to-5 job, there's no real experience where you get to feel that. And so I can't imagine that anything can replace that in my life going forward. So I'm going to miss that greatly.
“That's hard. And I think that's why a lot of athletes struggle after they retire, because you can't get that back. And so I have to be aware of that and know that and find other things that I'm passionate about.”
