Commonly regarded as the best soccer player ever produced by the United States soon to be 36-year-old Landon Donovan has decided to come out of retirement for the second time.
After “retiring” in 2014, two years later he rejoined the LA Galaxy after it suffered an injury crisis.
This time he has agreed to sign for Club Leon of Liga MX. During an international career in which he scored 57 goals in 157 games for the US national team, the fluently Spanish-speaking Donovan tormented Mexico both on and off the field.
He scored six goals against Mexico with the most famous coming at the 2002 World Cup Finals in the round of 16 – a game the US won 2-0.
Donovan also tweaked Mexican sensibilities more than once.
.@landondonovan, long one of Mexico’s most hated US soccer players (because he helped Team USA defeat us) may be moving to Mexico to play in Mexican soccer league, says he does not believe in walls. Mexicans loving the move. pic.twitter.com/wuwf19jmnb
— Jorge Guajardo (@jorge_guajardo) January 13, 2018
Rumors of a return started to bubble to the surface a few days ago when it was reported he was in Leon. The latest “unretirement” was confirmed via Twitter account late Friday.
¡Bienvenido Mr.@landondonovan!#SerFieraEsUnOrgullo pic.twitter.com/GPuBo16T00
— Club León (@clubleonfc) January 13, 2018
No contract details have been released by either party.
The regular 2017 Clausura comprises 17 games and runs until April 19 with the play-off final game set first May 20. This means that Donovan would not have a potential conflict with his commitment to provide analysis to Fox Sports during the 2018 World Cup Finals in Russia.
Donovan signed for Bayer Leverkusen of the Bundesliga as a teenager but he found settling in Germany. He returned to southern California to play for the San Jose Earthquakes of MLS and then moved to the LA Galaxy.
His decision to play in the United States rather than developing his career in Europe was castigated by some.
However, there were loan spells with Bayern Munich in Germany and Everton of the Premier League, the latter being regarded as a big success.
years ago today, @landondonovan stepped on the field for @Everton making his 1st #PL app#EFC pic.twitter.com/4jpo470Qvq
— Premier League USA (@PLinUSA) January 9, 2018
At the time of his 2014 retirement, Donovan had won the MLS Cup six times – twice with the Earthquakes and four times with the LA Galaxy.
In his prime, Landon Donovan was a rare mix of lightning pace, excellent technique, positional flexibility and an ability to read the game.
Now in his mid-thirties, the turn of speed will have gone but his other skills should provide him with a solid foundation for Liga MX which focuses on technique and passing rather than the athleticism and power that is more prevalent in Major League Soccer.
Club Leon
In the 2017 Apetura Leon finished 7th in the regular season before losing in the first round of the playoffs to the eventual winners, Tigres. The teams played to a 2-2 tie with the tiebreaker of away goals irrelevant on account of both matches finishing 1-1.
Tigres qualified based on a higher finishing position in the regular season.
Club Leon plays its second match of the 2018 Clausura tonight (Jan 20) at home to Toluca. A Mexican equivalent and longtime opponent of Landon Donovan, 38-year-old Rafael Marquez, plays for Atlas. In the opening game of the Clausura, Leon beat Atlas 2-1.
Donovan may be ready to make his debut when Leon plays Cruz Azul in Mexico City on January 20. Cruz Azul is coached by Pedro Caixinha who recently suffered through an inauspicious spell with Rangers in the Scottish League.
Here is the Clausura fixture list.
Leon’s last success came when they won the 2014 Clausura and they became only the second Mexican team to win consecutive league titles following Club America.
New Teammates
Coached by Uruguayan "Chavo" Díaz, Leon has a number of players that are recently well-known outside of Mexico.
Goalkeeper William Yarbrough is three times US international who initially joined Leon on loan in 2012.
Mexico internal Luis Montes is an attacking midfield player who was unfortunate to miss the 2014 World Cup Finals on account of a double fracture of the leg.
Striker Mauro Boselli has found a home with Leon after bouncing from team to team in Argentina and Europe. Boselli has scored an average of 0.6 goals a game for Leon and is the team’s second-highest scorer all-time.
Giles Barnes joined Leon a few days ago. Barnes was regarded as a player with a fantastic future when broke into the Derby first team in 2006. Unfortunately, injuries hampered his development and in 2012 he signed for Houston Dynamo of MLS.
Barnes then spent time with the Vancouver Whitecaps and Orlando SC. In 2015 he made his debut for Jamaica and scored the goal that knocked the US out in the semi-final of the Gold Cup.
