Landon Donovan press conference after his final USMNT game: transcript

Key points

• Donovan said the night was beyond his wildest dreams and that the love and support made the years of effort feel worthwhile.
• He said watching the tribute video was the best part, and having his family there was special.
• He described the fan support, including Supporters' Clubs and American Outlaws, as the blood of the team and the sport.
• He said young American players now have idols to watch, unlike when he was growing up with no Major League Soccer.
• On MLS versus Europe, he said the key is to keep developing and to be playing, since each situation is different.
• Asked about comeback offers, he said he is pretty sure this is the end and plans to enjoy the next chapter.

Chapters

1. 0:04Emotions, the tribute video and fan support
2. 3:04Being subbed off and holding back tears
3. 4:44Young U.S. players, MLS and Europe
4. 7:02Playing the game and watching the clock
5. 8:35Retirement and the next chapter

Full transcript

0:04Hey, Landon. First, I want to know if you had fun and if this is what you imagined it being. And then if you had any, I don't know, two or three moments from the last two hours that really you think will stick with you years from now. It was beyond my wildest dreams, for sure, and as a human being, to feel that kind of love and support is incredible, so I've put a lot in to this game over many years, and tonight feels like it was all worth it, and so I'm very grateful.

0:45and the best for me was watching the video and actually letting myself go a little bit because I've been so focused on all the other stuff that's going on. I've been sort of doing, doing, doing and not allowing myself to just be with it. And so that was nice and then obviously having my family there was very special for me. Awesome, thank you. When I watched you when you were watching the video, at what point did the tears start to say?

1:20Pretty soon. There's just a lot, you know, there's a lot of moments and memories and, you know, my life has been shaped through this sport and I'm so blessed because I've been able to grow and learn with all the experiences that this sport has given me and that's pretty cool.

1:52You know, I watch some of the highlights and stuff and I think about where I was in my life off the field during those times and how the game has given me an outlet to express myself and learn and grow and it's pretty cool. I've been very fortunate. You've been doing with fans and that charm. That's cool. A little out of character for me, but sometimes you've got to let go and enjoy it. And those people, you know, Supporters' Clubs and American Outlaws, they're the blood of this team and the sport.

2:30And when I started, there probably would have been a few hundred people. And now there's thousands of people that probably made the trip from all over the country to come support us, support me. And it's pretty special. So that was a fun moment. and enjoy it. Andrew, over to your left, Landon. Landon, when you were subbed off, that was kind of a cool moment down the field. If you just described what that was like, and then when you reached the sideline knew it, you were going to have a little bit of interaction. Could you say what maybe he told you at that moment?

3:04He told me he should have taken me to Brazil. I'm just kidding. Oh, my God. Do you need to keep going or you got to go? Oh, my God. No, it was really nice to, it's weird in an international game like this to sort of stop and spend a minute appreciating it, but it was nice to hear the applause, and Juergen and I spoke today, we had a good conversation, and we both agreed that we wanted tonight to be about tonight and that's it and so um it was nice and i'm appreciative of everything that everyone did to make tonight special you saw the tears during the video and again you were hugging with your family members the two ladies at the side with your sister and mother there How many times did you come close to losing it tonight, if you would have joined the game or just left there?

4:11I have no problem showing emotion, as you guys know, and so it just didn't come until that moment. I was, you know, I'm still playing a game, I'm still focused on trying to win and help the team and that stuff, but when it was done, I was sort of able to just relax and watch the video and appreciate it all. And I sort of saw it – it sort of felt like I was watching it almost from an outsider's view and watching my life on the screen and the way I've grown up to the screen.

4:44And so I think that's what got me. Lyndon, you talked about wanting to coach 16-, 17-year-old kids. I couldn't help but notice that in light of how many – how much expectations were put on you at that age. And I'm just wondering if you've given any thought to what it's like to be an American soccer player now at 16 and 17 as opposed to when you were that age and what role you played in changing that culture. I mean, it's night and day. The kids now, we've got a kid on the galaxy now, Bradford Jamison, who's 17. He's grown up watching us all play. He's idolized all of us. And I think about me growing up, I didn't have anyone to watch. There was no Major League Soccer. I didn't have anyone to idolize. I idolized people from other sports because, you know, I watched Wayne Gretzky and Magic Johnson. I didn't have idols to look up to. So it's so different now, but that's a good thing.

5:44And that's what we've wanted, and that's what we're all here to do, is to help this thing grow. You guys are here to help this thing grow, and we should all be proud of it. Thank you. Thank you. Landon, to add to that question a little bit, I see a lot of players right now that are coming from the European side of things. As somebody whose career has spanned the MLS and Europe, what would you say are the advantages and disadvantages to playing in each league, and what kind of advice do you give to those There are advantages both ways.

6:19Every situation is different, so you can't make a blanket statement about where it's better to be. For everybody it's different. I think the most important thing is that you're developing and that you're getting a chance to play. So there's a lot of situations where guys go somewhere and they don't play, and that doesn't help, not only from a soccer standpoint, but... From a life standpoint, this is what we do. We've grown up playing soccer, so if you're not playing soccer, that's not good. Conversely, if you're in a great environment where you're playing a lot, that's ideal. And so, I think everyone can make their own choice. Adrian.

7:02I think the goal was off-centered a little bit. Yeah, it would have been nice, but that's okay. Maybe it wasn't meant to be. You've played in 150-plus caps, World Cups, MLS Cups, and everything. Was something different about being on field tonight? Did it feel different, and if so, what felt different about being out there tonight? just the energy felt different it was it's just strange i mean i haven't been in camp all week i haven't trained with these guys all week so it just it's a surreal feeling and i'm not um i'm not overly comfortable with that kind of attention on me and so it was a battle with myself to just try to enjoy it and allow it and appreciate it um while balancing still playing a game. I mean, this was a real game, and for a lot of guys, this is, for all the guys, it's a big opportunity. So I wanted to take that seriously, and I wanted to make sure I contributed.

8:04So all of that made it just a different game for me, for sure. Landon, what was coming through your mind as the minutes kept ticking by? I mean, you got past 30 and it just seemed like you kept going and going. How do you kind of process that? Well, I looked up after the game started and there had been like a few plays. And I looked up at the clock and I was thinking, please don't be that long yet. And it was two minutes in. And I was like, thank you.

8:35and then it flew by fast and when you're in that type of environment that kind of game i didn't want to come out but you know there's realities and i understood it but i give urican credit for letting me stay a few more minutes and i think it was it was perfect the way it worked out frank do you have a stock answer for when teams start asking you to come out of retirement for when teams do This is a transcript with proper punctuation. yeah i think we've already dealt with some of that believe it or not and um you know it's nice nice to feel wanted but uh i think i'm pretty sure this is it so um uh i'm going to enjoy myself and uh enjoy the next chapter okay thank you very much later thank you thank you guys I appreciate it.

9:33Thank you. You're going to hold it. Nick's out and extend a little bit.

Source and licence

Recording: File:Landon Donovan final USMNT postgame full video - Oct. 10, 2014.webm by Carl Setterlund (2014-10-13), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY 3.0.

The transcript is machine speech-to-text by the TidyTools Audio & video transcriber; the summary, key points and chapters were written by Claude from that transcript. Both may contain errors: check the recording before quoting it.