Landon Donovan is one of the greatest soccer players in American history, and he likes the direction of the sport.
If you have grown up watching soccer in the past 20 years, it likely has much to do with two factors; the success of the American women in World Cup play, and Landon Donovan.
While the men’s team has never had the success of the women – only once getting to the quarterfinals of the World Cup – Donovan and other stars such as Tim Howard and Brian McBride have helped cultivate fans of the game. Donovan played on the United States Men’s National Team from 2000-14, while netting one of the nation’s most famous goals against Algeria in group play back in 2010.
Throughout his club career, Donovan had 484 caps and 194 goals, spanning from the European Premier League to Major League Soccer. Now, Donovan is retired and at 34 years old, loves where the game is headed. On Tuesday, Donovan spoke with me about where he sees soccer going in the near and long-term future.
“My opinion is it takes time and it is developing a fan base over time,” Donovan said. “You don’t just grow a fan base of 50 million people over night. You need people that care and then they have children who care. Obviously when U.S. pride is on the line for the World Cup or the Olympics, we all love our country, but how do we sustain that over time? We are getting there, but it takes time.”
As for World Cup play, the man who has the MLS Most Valuable Player trophy named after him believes the women have to get much of the credit for the popularity of soccer in America. While the men have been slowly improving in international play, the women have starred, as evidenced by their 2015 World Cup victory.
“The women inspire all of us,” Donovan stated. “They have set the bar for soccer for a number of years. The men have always aspired to be as good. They are two completely animals that way. The women’s game has been around for 25-30 years, but the men’s game has been around for 100+ years. They are competing against this long history … the women have been fantastic and it’s been great for our sport as a whole when the men and women do well.”
Currently, Donovan is partnered with Liberty Mutual, which is promoting the sport from the youth level to the professional ranks. While many corporate sponsorships are about money – they all are to some degree – Donovan insists that isn’t entirely the case here.
“They have been great supporters of youth soccer and now the national team and they are on board with what we are trying to achieve,” Donovan said. “If you told me 16 years a company of this size would want to support soccer, I would tell you you are crazy. I remember playing in front of a thousand people on a Wednesday night. I’m happy we have companies that aren’t just throwing money behind the sport but genuinely care. It is fantastic.”
Donovan believes the sport will continue to grow in America, with the notion that it can generate buzz in non-World Cup years. He believes there is hope if the youth can simply be exposed to the game.
“I look it in two parts, short and long term,” Donovan said. “We are trying to capture people and bring them into our sport and show what an interesting game this is. Inevitably when I talk to people who have not seen the sport, I tell them to go to the game and they call me and tell me it was the most incredible sporting event they have ever seen. For example, the energy in Portland is something like you have never seen. Big picture we need to have a league where players can go in their prime because people love America and want to live in America, but also because there is good money involved.”