Landon Donovan delivered the game-winning goal in Club Leon’s 1-0 friendly victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday night, his first start since launching a second professional comeback. Even after a year of retirement, Donovan has clearly retained his goalscoring instincts as he fired a low volley into the bottom corner on the turn. Against the club that started his career, Donovan hopes the goal will kickstart another new beginning with Leon.
Even San Jose’s captain Chris Wondolowski, a tireless competitor, was impressed by the occasion. “That shows his class,” said Wondo. “It’s a friendly but that’s a moment that will stick with me. It’s such a cool moment, I think of my college self, watching that 2003 game and playoff run. The fact that I get to be with Landon Donovan exchanging jerseys and he actually knows my name is such a cool thing. Just to be a part of it is pretty special.”
For all the symbolic weight of Donovan’s return to San Jose, the former USMNT forward was simply happy to get back to business and celebrated his goal in a mellow fashion. “I want to contribute,” he told reporters after the match. “This club took a chance on a thirty-six-year-old player who has been retired for a year and I want to be able to help and contribute so that feeling is good. Now, the game doesn’t matter and I need to do it when it matters but that’s just a nice feeling. I’ve scored enough goals I don’t need to celebrate like crazy but it felt good to contribute.”
Although Donovan’s return puzzled many, he says the break has realigned his perspective about playing. “The feeling is different,” he said. “I’m thoroughly enjoying it. I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining but for a long time it felt like my job. Having a year away gives you a lot of perspective, realizing there’s a lot of other things you could be doing for a living that are a lot worse than running around a soccer field. So I’m just enjoying it and trying to make sure I take advantage of the opportunity.”
While Donovan has played the majority of his career in Major League Soccer, he says he is adapting well to Club Leon and Mexico’s Liga MX. Regarding the transition, he commented: “It’s been easier than I would have thought. I know the Mexican people quite well so that helps. The league, I think, suits my style quite well. That’s the way I learned to play growing up. Anytime you move to a new country with your family there is going to be an adjustment but everyone has made it easy for me so I’ve enjoyed it and, so far, it’s been a lot of fun.”
His return is more than just a joyride, though, and he hopes his goal will help make his case to crack the starting eleven. “[Playing soccer is] a little bit like riding a bike in that there are pieces of it that are still a little foreign so you kind of have to get back into that groove,” he said. “That’s what’s been hard about not starting and not playing a lot of minutes. It’s hard to get a rhythm and get a feel for it. When you get the opportunity to have a bunch more touches and have more influence on the game, it’s helpful. That was enjoyable and I hope it’s something I get used to now, that would be nice. It was an interesting feeling to do it all over again.”
Donovan was fit to play the whole ninety minutes and he says he feels good. “Ask me tomorrow and you’ll have a different response,” he laughed. “But up until about eighty minutes, I felt not a problem. My body got a little sore after about eighty minutes, which is to be expected, but I was happy that I could move freely and not think about it. Again, it will be a little different tomorrow and Monday.”
Nonetheless, he’s glad he was able to offer his best to the Quakes audience. “It was great, there were more people than I thought would be here for a friendly game that doesn’t mean anything in the standings,” he said. “The atmosphere was good, the crowd was good. It was a 1-0 game but there were quite a few chances both ways so I think everyone was away feeling it was a good night.”
