Extra Time: For Donovan And Galaxy, Changes For The Better

It was late 1999 when Landon Donovan helped the United States under-17 national team to its best showing in the FIFA U-17 World Cup, a fourth-place finish in New Zealand.

Landon Donovan, left, has been receiving plenty of support from David Beckham this season.

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The senior national team had a new coach, Bruce Arena, and preparations were under way for qualifying games for the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan. Arena was asked if he could foresee Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley, two stars on that under-17 team, playing for the United States in the 2002 World Cup. Arena, ever guarded and perhaps trying to motivate, expressed skepticism that players so young could endure the crucible of playing on the international stage.

Donovan turned that skepticism on its ear in 2000. After playing a leadership role for the United States Olympic team at the Sydney Games, he became the sixth American player since 1985 to score in his first appearance for the senior national team, in a 2-0 victory against Mexico. Over all, he has played 99 times for the senior national team and is its career leader with 35 goals.

Fast-forward to 2007, the Year of Beckham in M.L.S. and the Year of Tumult for the Los Angeles Galaxy. Donovan was in the eye of the storm as David Beckham and his entourage arrived in the United States. M.L.S., American soccer and Donovan will probably never be the same.

“It was, believe it or not, as incredible an experience to be a part of as it seemed at the time,” Donovan, 26, said Thursday in a telephone interview. “This year, I think I’m much better and stronger mentally for it. It just, in a funny way, it just instantly gave credibility to everything we do.

“Sometimes in this league, we play a midweek game in front of 6,000 and you think: this stinks. Now with David, these have become real soccer games all the time. Other teams are reaping rewards, too. Now we get to play in real games and take it all seriously because of the spotlight.”

With all the hype and hoopla last season, the Galaxy and M.L.S. were left with a bitter taste; Beckham struggled with injuries and the Galaxy, the league’s marquee team, failed to make the playoffs. It started this season in embarrassing fashion for its new coach, Ruud Gullit, losing at Colorado, 4-0.

After Saturday’s 2-2 tie at Real Salt Lake (on two goals by Beckham), the Galaxy is 2-2-2. Donovan leads the league with eight goals and last week was named the league’s player of the month for April. Los Angeles hosts the Red Bulls (2-1-2) on Saturday.

Donovan scored a hat trick April 26 against the Galaxy’s local rival, Chivas USA. There is already chatter that he could challenge the league’s single-season record of 27 goals set in 1996 by the Tampa Bay Mutiny’s Roy Lassiter. Goal-scoring forwards require service out of the midfield; Lassiter had it with Carlos Valderrama (17 assists in ’96), and Donovan has it in Beckham.

What is different for Donovan so far this season?

“The main thing on a week-to-week, day-to-day basis, it’s what I’ve been doing to prepare myself to be successful in training and the next game,” he said. “I didn’t always do it in the past. We’d play on Saturday, then it was kind of ho-hum to get through the week. Now it’s become ... this is my job and it’s what I do, and I feel it would be like letting myself down if I’m not taking things more seriously.

“The tendency now could be to say that I’ve scored a lot of goals, the team won, so on Monday and Tuesday take it easy. But that’s not how it goes. I don’t want to stop because the ball has been going in.”

Notes

¶According to U.S. Soccer, more than 40,000 tickets have been sold for the international friendly June 8 between Argentina and the United States at Giants Stadium.

¶In Mexico, one of the country’s most popular teams, Chivas Guadalajara, advanced to the quarterfinals of the Clausura (closing tournament) with a 2-2 tie Saturday against Chiapas. Club América, one of the country’s richest teams, failed to advance but did end a 12-game winless streak with a 1-0 victory over Monterrey on Sunday.

¶In Argentina, Boca Juniors moved a point from the three teams leading the Apertura (opening tournament) when it beat River Plate for the first time in three years, 1-0, on Sunday. In five meetings since May 2005 with River Plate, Boca had lost twice and tied three times.

¶In England, Stoke City’s promotion to the Premier League will be worth $100 million to $188 million to the club. The team is returning to the top flight for the first time in 23 years.

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