Watch: Landon Donovan makes his return to the pitch
LA Galaxy forward Landon Donovan, who decided to come out of retirement this week, made his return to the MLS on Sunday night against Orlando City.
In the 83rd minute, Donovan came on as a substitute with LA up 4–1 and received a huge ovation. The 34-year-old sported the team’s No. 26 jersey since the No. 10 jersey in which he starred for years is currently worn by Giovani dos Santos.
Donovan initially retired at the end of the 2014 season with the Galaxy, the team he had played for since 2005. He previously took a break from the sport after 2012 as he cited that he was tired and missed time with the U.S. men’s national team. He returned to the national team in the summer of 2013.
He is the all-time leading scorer for U.S. Soccer (57 goals) and Major League Soccer (144 goals) and is also the MLS all-time leader in assists (136). He played in three World Cups but was left off the 2014 U.S. roster by manager Jurgen Klinsmann as the two men did not see eye-to-eye in their time together.
LA held on to defeat Orlando City 4–2.
