Landon Donovan is perhaps the greatest American soccer play of all time, but he was left off this summer's World Cup team in a shocking move by U.S. coach Jürgen Klinsmann.
When soccer president Sunil Gulati approached Donovan to play one final match after the completion of the Cup, Donovan was incensed, according to a new story from ESPN. But he eventually changed his mind and played in the game.
"I didn't want my family's last memory of me on the national team to be something so sh---y," Donovan said. "I was hoping to change that."
Donovan and Klinsmann shook hands at the game, but that relationship will likely never be mended. The coach cited Donovan's lack of national team appearances in 2011 and a 2012 sabbatical during World Cup qualifying as two factors for leaving him off the squad.
"By making all those decisions he made for himself, he has to be accountable," Klinsmann said. "And maybe he paid the price."
Donovan has always been a weird bird.
"The reluctant superstar," he said. "That's what my therapist calls me. I was never the guy who was going to give up the rest of my life to do more in the soccer world. I've tried to keep what I think is a healthy balance. I understand some people don't want to see that, they want to see me kill myself to make myself better at soccer, but that's not healthy and that's not me."
The story also provided this nugget about Donovan's listening habits: "For a well-read 32-year-old with an introspective soul and complex view of the world, his taste in music is relatively bubblegum. His favorite band is Boyz II Men. He's friends with the guys from Five for Fighting. And this morning, no matter what Top 40 song is on the radio (right now it's Brit pop band Rixton), he can't help but sing along. 'Me and my broken heart...'"
While his professional career hasn't reached the end of the road quite yet, he's through with the national team. You can check out highlights of his final game, a victory over Ecuador.
