GOAL Blog - New York Times Q&A with GALAXY's Landon Donovan

It was late in 1999 when Landon Donovan helped the United States under-17 national team to its best showing in the FIFA U17 World Cup — a fourth-place finish in New Zealand.

The senior national team had a new coach, Bruce Arena, and preparations were under way for the qualifying games that would later lead to the United States’s advancing to the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan. Arena was asked at the time if he could foresee Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley, two stars on that under-17 team, playing for the American team in the 2002 World Cup. Arena, ever guarded, 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 scoring a goal and playing a leadership role for the United States Olympic team at the Sydney Games, he earned his first national team cap for a so-called friendly against Mexico on Oct. 25, scoring a goal in a 2-0 victory and being named the Man of the Match. He became the sixth American player since 1985 to score a goal in his first appearance for the national team.

Article and Q&A interview here, with related video and news links...

http://mvn.com/soccer/2008/05/07/ny-times-interview-with-landon-donovan-and-video-links/