Landon Donovan is one of America’s best-ever soccer players, a withdrawn forward with the skill to create for others and a leader on the field. His career has been checkered by difficult tenures at clubs and some outspoken statements but on the field, he has proven himself indispensible for the USA’s hopes in 2014. Join us for a review of his career to date:

A prodigal talent, Donovan was signed to the Bundesliga’s Bayer Leverkusen in 1999 after he was spotted at a youth tournament. It seemed Donovan was going to become one of those rarities.

But Donovan quickly grew unhappy with his situation at Leverkusen and in 2000, he was loaned to the MLS’ San Jose Earthquakes for the 2001 season.

Donovan quickly became one of the top talents in MLS, leading the Quakes to MLS Cup in 2001 and 2003 and establishing himself as a playmaker and scorer of immense promise.

In 2003, Donovan was named MVP of MLS Cup after he scored two goals to lead the Quakes to a 4-2 win over the Chicago Fire.

Donovan would help take the Galaxy to the MLS Cup behind his twelve goals and ten assists, making an immediate impact with his new club – and giving Quakes fans reasons to fume.

Donovan would help take the Galaxy to the MLS Cup behind his twelve goals and ten assists, making an immediate impact with his new club – and giving Quakes fans reasons to fume.

Donovan quickly became the face of the Galaxy, racking up goals and assists galore, but his world would soon be upended again by the arrival of a major superstar – David Beckham.

Beckham’s arrival in Los Angeles saw Donovan relinquish the captain’s armband and fall into a pronounced slump. Relations between the two were prickly, finally boiling over when a book chronicling the tensions appeared in print.

This season, Donovan and Beckham teamed up to give the Englishman a fitting send off: an MLS Cup victory at the Home Depot Center. It was Donovan’s fifth career MLS title.

But Donovan also spent considerable time abroad, with a brief loan to Bayern Munich in 2008-9. Donovan played well for the club in friendly competitions but he declined to extend the loan and returned to the USA.     

Donovan had a happier spell at Everton, where he appeared in 13 games, scoring two goals. His impact was so great that Everton attempted to have his loan spell extended until the end of the Premier League season, only to have the Galaxy refuse.

He would return to Everton the following year, assisting on seven goals for the Toffees and again sparking them in the winter months.

Donovan has been a key player for the USA since his debut in 2000. A member of the inaugural US Soccer residency program, Donovan quickly became a valued playmaker on the Olympic and full national teams.

Donovan would be named the Best Young Player of the 2002 World Cup in which he led the USA to a shock quarterfinals berth. He has subsequently played in two more World Cups and is expected to lead the USA out in 2014 in Brazil.

One of the USA’s greatest rivalries is with Mexico and Donovan is a key part of that. A fluent Spanish speaker, Donovan has even poked fun at his notoriety south of the border with a series of TV commercials that aired only in Mexico.

Donovan is the USA’s all-time leading goal-scorer and assist-leader. To date, he has scored 49 goals for the USA.