We're counting down the hours until Landon Donovansuits up for the US national team one last time on Friday night (7 pm ET, ESPN, UniMas), so we're in a very nostalgic mood today, remembering the USMNT's all-time leading goalscorer and assist provider.
We already shared one tribute video with you that was powerful enough to make one of Donovan's former teammates tear up just a bit. But U.S. Soccer was in no way done honoring and remembering Donovan after that.
Below you will find links to stories and photo galleries, videos and quotes from figures closest to Donovan during his career with the national team.
Statistics alone can't do justice what Donovan's USMNT career has meant to the sport and its rising popularity as a whole, but they can certainly provide some context regarding his on-field contributions. Simply put, there is no one else that even comes close.
Before really bursting onto the world's radar in 2002, Donovan was a star for the U-17 national team. He was awarded the Golden Ball at the 1999 U-17 World Championships as the tournament's best player.
As you can see in this extensive photo gallery, Donovan — as well as photographic technology — has changed a lot in 16 years.
For those that are either too young to remember Donovan's early USMNT days, or perhaps hadn't come to love soccer yet — here's the story of his first cap and goal, which of course came against Mexico:
The coach who gave Donovan his debut on that October day in 2000, Bruce Arena, continues to work with him to this day as head coach of the LA Galaxy. Arena recalls very well Donovan's coming-out party at the 2002 World Cup that saw him walk away with the award for the tournament's Best Young Player.
"A few things still stick out in my mind from Landon’s performance at the 2002 World Cup," writes Arena in his own feature story. He was a truly outstanding player; wherever we played him, he made us better. At times we paired him with Brian McBride, at times he played in the midfield, but I think what I’ll always remember is that we witnessed a young man becoming a star and it was exciting to see."
The year 2008, when Donovan broke Eric Wynalda's USMNT goalscoring record (34 goals), was so long ago that you almost forget that he actually had to do it. He wasn't just born the all-time leading goalscorer (57), you know:
For much, much more content from U.S. Soccer's seemingly-infinite Landon Donovan vault, check out their Donovan farewell hub.
