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Landon Donovan Research Paper

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Landon Donovan was born on March 4, 1982 in Ontario, California. Donovan, his sister Tristan and older brother Josh, were raised primarily by their mother. Their father played semi-pro hockey. Donovan was a natural athlete. At the age of 5, he began playing competitive soccer. By the time he entered High School he was also known for his gymnast ability, but soccer was what he truly loved. As a sophomore, he scored 17 goals, paving the way for league MVP honors. The year after, he scored 16 goals. His scoring ability caught the attention of a big scouts and in his senior year of high school, he joined the U.S. national soccer program. Landon Donovan was a attacker known for his pace and stamina as well as intelligence and technical skill, which allowed him to play …show more content…

He was named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year in 2003. In 2004 Donovan became the first man to be named U.S. Soccer Athletes of the Year three years in a row, before returning to the Bayer Leverkusen first team in January 2005. After playing seven games with Leverkusen in the spring season, only two of which were starts, Donovan requested to leave the club. Despite a late offer from English Premier League club Portsmouth, Donovan expressed a desire to return to the United States. Upon him returning to MLS, San Jose was denied the chance to re-sign Donovan because Earthquakes general manager Alexi Lalas had traded away his rights. The Los Angeles Galaxy, his hometown team, were able to trade leading scorer Carlos Ruiz to FC Dallas to get on top of the MLS allocation order as Donovan prepared to leave Germany. Donovan signed a multi-year contract with Los Angeles that made him the highest-paid American player in the league. In his first season with the Galaxy, Donovan scored twelve league goals with ten assists and added four goals and an assist in the playoffs as the Galaxy won the MLS Cup. He was named to the MLS All-Time Best 11 after the season

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