An interview with Landon Donovan: Discussing the Samsung Galaxy 11 and World Cup

Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

Los Angeles Galaxy superstar Landon Donovan is preparing for not only another Major League Soccer season, but the World Cup in Brazil with the United States men’s national team. Also awaiting Donovan this summer is a match against an alien race in an effort to save planet Earth along side a team of the best players from around the world, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney.

If you haven’t been following the Samsung Galaxy 11 campaign, the name given to this team of superstars, it has been one of the more unique and interesting ad campaigns in recent memory. It started with symbols appearing in major locations New York City’s Times Square and football fields at Hackney Marshes in London with the hashtag “WinnerTakesEarth.”

Then the internet was abuzz when mysterious robed fans started appearing at home games for Chelsea FC, Bayern Munich and Juventus FC – all Samsung-sponsored soccer teams. From there we learned that international football legend Franz Beckenbauer would be leading the team, and he set out to recruit the world’s best players. Along the way Samsung released videos detailing which players were selected and how they were selected, including American soccer legend Landon Donovan, who talked with FanSided about the campaign, the upcoming World Cup and FIFA.

Mike Dyce: So I really enjoyed the Samsung campaign because I thought it was interesting and it created a lot of interest, but when you were approached by Samsung with a campaign with a premise of soccer superstars banding together to play an alien race to save planet Earth, what was your initial thought or reaction to that?

Landon Donovan: Well I had two initial reactions. One was my rational side that was like what? And then my second was my superhero little boy side that was like this is awesome. So I did a little research and made sure I knew what I was getting into, but the more I looked at it, it was a no-brainer. It’s been actually really fun for me, I think a lot of times athletes or people who do things like this, sort of dread doing some of the stuff. But for me this whole experience has been really fun. It’s been enjoyable, I’m glad a part of it.”

MD: So you knew about the campaign before all the pieces started showing up all over the place and the fans started showing up at the stadiums wearing the robes. What did you think watching people on the internet and social media react to the unknown part of it?

LD: That is the beauty of the world we live in now, is that you can see all this. I always gauge it on how my friends react, and a lot of times I’ll even do or won’t do things based on what my friends and family think of it because they’re a true barometer of whether something makes sense or is successful or not. And they loved it. So that was easy for me, it has been fun to follow along the way and I think the creativity of it is really brilliant and makes a lot of sense. Sort of A-typical of the way most companies would roll out a media campaign and it has been a more  engaging and fun way for us as athletes and also for people who are following and the fans at home, so I think it has been a real big success?

MD: Did you have any input on the creativity on your part of the story line?

LD: No unfortunately, I’m the low man on the totem pole. I’m sure some of the other guys did.

MD: What does it mean to be on a team with 11 of the world’s best players?

LD: Well I see two parts of it. One as just an individual, it is incredibly special to have them want to include me. Two, from a soccer stand point in America, just to have an American player involved is special because years ago that wouldn’t have been a possibility. They would’ve done the campaign with probably most of the other guys but not an American, and it just shows far the sport has come in our country and how relevant it is. It shows that Samsung is also dedicated to the sport in this country and their following, they care. I’ve been very proud to be a part of this.

MD: Of course the sport has grown in popularity so much in the United States recently, is it sinking in how much of a role you’ve played in the popularity growth in America.

LD: Yeah, I think I understand. I think we’re all proud of it. Everyone in this country who are involved in soccer in some way has contributed. Because in other countries if you become a reporter, for instance in England to follow soccer or football there, you’re sort of just another person along the way thats doing the same as everyone else. When people here that have been involved in for a long time, that have helped it grow, have a real equity interest because you helped grow it. Whether we believe it or not, we’ve all been a part of it. I’m very proud to have been a part of it too.

MD: Some people say the popularity of the sport in the United States is related to the FIFA video game and allows them to understand, do you play FIFA?

LD: I’ve played FIFA my whole life, so I’m acutely aware of that actually. When I was younger, I didn’t have the opportunity to watch games on TV, I didn’t have cable television, you couldn’t watch games online, the internet and social media wasn’t all what it was. The only access I had to players or knowing anything about the team was through FIFA. Actually a cool part, to touch on it, of this whole campaign is that people on their Samsung Galaxy S5 device can go on and play FIFA 14 and can play against our Galaxy 11 team. Which blows my mind coming from where I came from, back when playing video games to now people can open their phone and play against this Galaxy 11 team within seconds is just really cool.

MD: Is it a hard team to play against on FIFA?

LD: I would guess. (Chuckling) Would you want to play against them?

MD: I don’t get a lot of time to play video games, but I’m really intrigued by that and can’t wait to play against them and see how hard it is.

LD: Good luck!

MD: Switching gears to the World Cup for a second if you mind, how confident are you and the team feeling about making it out of a very tough group.

LD: I think we’re quietly confident that we can do it. I mean if we don’t believe we can do it, we might as well not go. We know that it is very difficult, we know that if we play to our best we can beat any team in the world. And we truly believe that. That is easier said than done for sure, but we certainly have the capability. That’s the goal, our goal is to go play our first three games as well as we can play them, and we think if we can do that we have a really good chance at advancing.

MD: Is it distracting or a hinderance to the World Cup chances of the American team being in the middle of the Major League Soccer season going in?

LD: I actually think it is a benefit. The European seasons are ending in May, and my experience has been that European players and European teams struggle in the World Cup as a general statement because they’re coming off a long season. So a lot of these guys have played 40, 45, 50 high level games, it is hard to keep yourself going for an extra month, or month and a half. For us, we’ll be right in the middle of our season, some of us will have played 10 or 12 games and we’ll feel at the height of our fitness and I actually think it is an advantage for us.

MD: This could be your last World Cup potentially, is your mindset different going in? Or is the experience going to be different heading into it? 

LD: I think it’ll be different in that my role will probably be different. I’m not necessarily going to be playing or starting every game, potentially. That is still my goal, but that might not necessarily be the case but I’m very excited for the opportunity. I’m excited for our team and I’m excited for the sport in our country, to hopefully take another real big step forward.

MD: What would be a success for the American team at the World Cup? Would it be getting out of the group or getting to the quarterfinals?

LD: For me, success in the World Cup is about getting out of the group. Until U.S. soccer is at a point where we do that consistently, that is always the goal. That is the goal for most teams, there are a few teams that expect to get the quarters or semis or finals. For most teams getting out of the group is a huge accomplishment and given the group we have that is also true for us.

MD: With the popularity of the sport making a lot of younger Americans interested in the sport, how long do you think it is before the Americans make it to the World Cup finals or even win the whole thing?

LD: Well that is the golden question right? It is sort of hard to know. The reality is for us now, is that we’re in a place where we can beat any team in the world. That doesn’t mean it happens every time but we are capable of that and we’ve show that and proven that. Now it is about continuing to develop players so that we’re consistently competing against and beating the best teams in the world. That is what other countries do, they consistently beat teams it is not a one out of every 10 times, it is a five or six out of every 10. That is where we need to get to and when we get to that point I think we’ll have a realistic chance of winning a World Cup.

MD: One last question, back to the Samsung Galaxy 11, what can you tell us about the final game this summer against the alien race?

LD: Are you looking for insight?

MD: Yeah, like what can we expect? Is it going to be on YouTube, is it going to be a movie, how much of the game will we get to see?

LD: It’ll be in video form, I can’t tell you exactly where or how it is going to be distributed. It will be similar to the first video, it’ll be a virtual game that you will get to watch and see. It is going to be really cool, I would make sure that you’re staying tuned.

MD: Well thank you so much for taking time to talk to us and best of luck to you this season and as you approach the career mark in Major League scoring.

For more information on the Galaxy 11 visit their website, or follow Samsung Mobile on Twitter and like them on Facebook. If you haven’t seen all the videos from the series you can check them out on Samsung’s YouTube channel or check out the videos below.