38 Facts About Landon Donovan

1. Landon Donovan premiered his international fame playing with the Under-17 squad.

2. Landon Donovan proved to be a great athlete from a young age.

3. Landon Donovan has a twin sister namely Tristan and Josh is his older brother.

4. Landon Donovan is believed to have suffered from depression during most of his career period.

5. Landon Donovan took to Facebook to announce his engagement to the public before going ahead to exchange vows in May 2015.

6. Landon Donovan is 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 154 pounds (70 kg).

7. Landon Donovan spent a total of four years with the Earthquakes before returning to Germany in 2005.

8. Landon Donovan can lay a claim to being the best ever soccer player from the United States due to his numerous outstanding accomplishments, both with his club and the national team.

9. Landon Donovan retired from both club and international soccer in 2014 as the all-time leading goal scorer in both MLS and US men's national team (57 goals) history.

10. Landon Donovan won his fifth career MLS title in 2012, when he scored the game-winning penalty kick in the MLS Cup final.

11. Landon Donovan was an immediate success in his return to the United States, leading the Earthquakes to an MLS Cup title in his first year with the team.

12. Landon Donovan was a star player in high school in Redlands, California, and in 1998 he joined the US national under-17 team.

13. Landon Donovan ended his professional soccer career in 2014, officially retiring from the sport that August.

14. In 2000, Landon Donovan came up big on the international stage when he helped lead the Americans out of the first round at the Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

15. Landon Donovan helped lead the Americans out of the first round at the Summer Olympics.

16. Landon Donovan revealed during the 2018 FIFA World Cup that he was a fan of fierce rivals Mexico in the absence of the United States national team, having been sponsored to do so by Wells Fargo.

17. In 2016, Landon Donovan became a part owner of English football club Swansea City, joining several other American in an investment group that has a majority stake in the club.

18. Landon Donovan speaks German as a result of his time spent in Germany.

19. Landon Donovan speaks fluent Spanish, which he learned both in school and through playing in Hispanic clubs and leagues while growing up in California.

20. On October 10, 2014, Landon Donovan played his 157th and final match for the United States in a friendly against Ecuador in East Hartford, Connecticut.

21. In May 2014, Landon Donovan was named in the preliminary squad for the 2014 World Cup and joined the team in training camp.

22. On January 19, 2008, Landon Donovan scored his 35th international goal, a penalty against Sweden, and passed Eric Wynalda as the United States' all-time leading goal scorer.

23. Landon Donovan was a member of the US squad at the 2006 World Cup, in which the Americans were eliminated in the group stage.

24. Landon Donovan was a member of the inaugural class at US Soccer's full-time residency program for the under-17 national team at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

25. On January 12, 2018, Landon Donovan signed with Liga MX team Club Leon, having returned from retirement for a second time.

26. Landon Donovan started in five of them and scored one goal.

27. Landon Donovan scored a goal in his second match after returning to the Galaxy.

28. On September 11, 2016, Landon Donovan entered the match against Orlando City as a substitute on the 83rd minute.

29. On September 8, 2016, Landon Donovan announced his return from retirement and officially signed with the Galaxy for the remainder of the 2016 season.

30. In November 2008, Landon Donovan trained with Bayern Munich, before joining the German club on loan until the start of the 2009 MLS season in mid-March.

31. In October 2012, Landon Donovan expressed his desire to take a break from his professional soccer career, citing physical and mental exhaustion as the main reasons.

32. In July 2009, Landon Donovan received praise and criticism for his critical comments about Beckham in Sports Illustrated journalist Grant Wahl's book The Beckham Experiment, calling Beckham a poor captain and teammate.

33. Landon Donovan scored a goal in every match except for the final.

34. In 2004, Landon Donovan became the first man to be named the US Soccer Athlete of the Year three years in a row before returning to the Bayer Leverkusen first team in January 2005.

35. In 1999 Landon Donovan attended the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, with other members of the U-17 national team as part of US Soccer's youth development program.

36. In March 2017, Landon Donovan joined a private ownership group seeking to bring the next MLS expansion team to San Diego, California.

37. Landon Donovan is a four-time winner of the US Soccer Athlete of the Year award, as well as the only seven-time winner of the Honda Player of the Year award.

38. Landon Donovan retired as a player in 2014, but made a brief comeback with LA Galaxy late in the 2016 season and then in 2018 to play for Club Leon.