Donovan to hang up his boots after MLS season
He has been the face of American soccer as the sport sought to find the same popularity in the United States as other games like basketball, baseball and American football.
But as the US football team begins a new chapter after their successful World Cup campaign in Brazil, Landon Donovan, 32, is penning his final footnote.
The Los Angeles Galaxy striker, who was controversially dropped from the US World Cup squad by national coach Juergen Klinsmann, will hang up his boots at the end of the ongoing Major League Soccer season.
Right time
Speaking at a news conference, the 32-year-old explained his decision saying: "The time is right for me. My gut just told me it was right, that it was the right time.
"The last few years I haven't had the same passion I had previously in my career.
"There's not that same passion, that same energy."
Rise
Despite spending most of his playing career in the US where he has five MLS titles - three with the Galaxy and two with the San Jose Earthquakes - he rose to prominence as a key man for his national side, earning 156 caps and scoring 57 international goals.
Aside from helping the US to four CONCACAF Gold Cup wins, the attacker was also voted the Best Young Player at the 2002 World Cup as the Stars and Stripes made it to the quarter-finals.
While he had unremarkable spells in Germany with Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich, Donovan enjoyed two fruitful loan spells with English Premier League side Everton.
Donovan could play his final game against the Seattle Sounders on Oct 25 when the MLS season ends, although the Galaxy, who are third in the Western Conference, are expected progress to the championship playoffs in November.
Source: Reuters
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