The All-Time leader of goals and assists for both the U.S. Men’s National Team and Major League Soccer is set to come out of retirement.
According to Sports Illustrated, Landon Donovan is set to join the San Diego Sockers of the Major Arena Soccer League. This will be Donovan’s third return from retirement in his career, and he would join former MLSer Dwayne De Rosario who also features in the league.
Donovan, 36, originally retired following the 2014 MLS season but rejoined the LA Galaxy two years later. After hanging up his boots a second time, Donovan returned to the pitch with Liga MX side Club Leon in 2018 where he only made six appearances before parting ways with the club.
In total, Donovan has made 404 club appearances with stops at Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, Everton, San Jose Earthquakes, LA Galaxy, and Leon. He also has made 157 appearances with the USMNT, where he is tied for the All-Time record in goals (57) with Clint Dempsey.
A return for Donovan would certainly grow exposure for the MASL, which currently has 17 teams.
This is somewhere between a men’s over-30 league and MLS. If he still has the itch and has a good sense of the level he can play at, I say go for it. A nice ancillary benefit is raising the profile of soccer in San Diego.
He had to take the spot light away from Tim Howard’s retirement just to stay relevant, poor guy