Filed under: FIFA World Cup, US Soccer, U.S. Men’s National Team
PRINCETON, N.J. — “Landycakes” is dead.
The man lampooned by that nickname, the player fans ridiculed for the softness evident during two failures in the Bundesliga and a disastrous 2006 World Cup, has been reforged.
Landon Donovan emerged from those failures, and from a divorce that would have crippled others, as the MVP of Major League Soccer, a shooting star in England and the confident and focused anchor of the U.S. national team. That confidence is obvious on the field, where he embraces rather than ducks his responsibilities. And it’s evident away from the game, where he’s surprisingly comfortable discussing his private transition from an athlete who buckled due to pressure to one who is ready to thrive under it in South Africa.
“You can take the soccer component out of it,” he said. “In life you have opportunities that come around every so often that you’d like to take advantage of. And I wasn’t prepared, nor did I take advantage of it [in the past]. Whether that’s in any facet of your life, in your job, in your personal life, anything, when you don’t do that it’s disappointing.”
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During a frank half-hour press conference at Princeton University, where the 28-year-old Donovan is preparing for his third World Cup along with his U.S. teammates, he discussed the effect that his shockingly tentative performance four years ago and his 2009 divorce from actress Bianca Kajlich has had on his life and his play. The effect is profound.
It was evident last summer, when he led the U.S. to the final of the Confederations Cup while healing the rift with David Beckham and playing a critical role in the resurrection of the Los Angeles Galaxy. At that time, he told FanHouse that, “I am in control of what I do, and before I thought different things determined how I would play or how I would respond or how I would act on the field. I’m in control of that now … and knowing that I’m in control of it means I know what my ability is. I know what I’m capable of and I bring it every time.”
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