Landon Donovan Quotes

I like teff, an Ethiopian grain. It's not so popular in the States yet, but it's really good, almost like a porridge. And I love sushi, but it's not always that healthy, so I don't keep it at home.

I think where we're still a little bit behind some other countries is just our pure soccer knowledge and our savvy on the field. That takes time and generations that have watched soccer growing up, played the game growing up.

I don't think in terms of legacy or that kind of stuff. I've always thought that'll take care of itself if I did everything right on a day-to-day basis.

Americans love winners, so if we win we know we'll get a lot of support.

I don't know about the rest of the world, but I know in our region everyone is gunning to beat us. We have a new challenge.

There is something to be said for waking up every morning and seeing the sun.

I think all players reach a point in their career where it's natural to lose some of that hunger, that desire, to sort of break out or be a star.

I love winning and any team I'm on, I expect to win.

As athletes, most of the time we deal with fans cussing at us, saying how much we suck.

Some things you can shake off, some things dig deeper than soccer.

My guess is that if David Beckham wants Ronaldo's jersey, he's going to get it.

I talk periodically with the producers at EA and I try to be as honest as possible because as great as EA does, you just don't want to hear good things. These people are really passionate about making games and making them as realistic as possible.

There was this old soccer game called 'Goal' for the old Nintendo, and ever since then, I've played everything from the old school games to the 360.

I've got a lot to prove to a lot of people, including myself.

If you've followed my career at all, you will know that I perform best in comfortable surroundings. Though other leagues may seem more enticing to other players, it's something I'm just not interested in doing personally.

New England has two factors to get them ready to play. They've consistently been, if not the best, the second best team all year and they're playing confidently. And a lot of those guys were on field when they lost to LA. They'll take motivation in that.

A lot of times I watch sporting events, and there are things I want to say and things I see that don't get said or talked about.

If I look back after 10 weeks and say I really want to stay then maybe I can make that happen. If I say OK it was good, but I'm ready to go then I can go, but for now I'm taking it week by week.

I have to be able to be honest and be credible, and I think I can say, 'This guy did not have his best game today' rather than, 'He is awful and I cannot believe he did that.'

I think it's probably a good lesson for other people to follow - to not always make the decision that's popular for others, but to do what you feel like is the right thing to do.

You got me: I do Pilates. I love Pilates because we do very specific training in soccer for the same six or seven muscles, but we neglect so many other muscles. So when I do Pilates, it helps get all the rest of the muscles in shape and gets them working together.

Do I feel pressure being a young player with high expectations? Nah.

Relaxing, going on vacation, sleeping, having fun when I want, golfing when I want, do whatever I want - I am going to enjoy it.

In my heart of hearts, I thought, if we get a 1-0 win and the team doesn't perform well, that would feel good.

I think about the things I control and do them well.

It's got to be harder in real life to win a World Cup. But depending on if you play World Class level on FIFA, it's going to be difficult to win in the video game, too.

I remember - when I was little, I remember playing 'Tecmo Bowl,' and I would be so excited to be Bo Jackson in the game that I wanted to watch him play in real life.

I didn't have to step up into a leadership role, ... I just had to be there and help out where I could. But this year I had to be more of the man.

Unfortunately, I think there's not enough education about hydration. When I was young, we knew nothing about it. We all know that there's cases of athletes having serious issues because of dehydration and even dying.

My decision to return to the MLS is one that I have made with thoughtful consideration.

That's a part that's always a challenge for athletes: trying to keep the passion alive while knowing it's still your job. There's no question that at some point, probably sooner rather than later, I'll be pretty burned out. And when that time comes, then I'll take a step back and take a look at it and see if I want to keep going.

I know conventional wisdom has always been to go to Europe, and I did that early on, and I tried it, but I realised pretty quickly if I wasn't playing, nothing else mattered - I wasn't going to be happy.

The advantage doesn't come because you can run more than someone over 90 minutes. The advantage comes when, in the tenth minute, I'm sprinting back and making another guy chase me. By the end of the game, that guy's worn down, but I can still keep going at the same pace.

I used to focus more on scoring. Now I take a lot of pride and pleasure in helping someone else do well.

I got to say 'Hi' to Dolly Parton, which my mom thought was kind of cool.

He's confident. He knows what he's good at and he has people around him to help him.
(on Freddy Adu)

I've never met anybody who says they don't like the World Cup. If you're a soccer fan or not, everybody loves watching it, and I think it could be the same for other sports.

If you let the reality of the business side get to you, it can turn you, and that's not good at all.

I've never asked a player if they would sign my shoe.

I sure am handsome. I can't lie. This is one handsome guy.

The biggest thing for me with charity is awareness. Obviously as an athlete, I have an opportunity to make people more aware. The average person doesn't have that opportunity, so the best way is to spare some money, clothing, food - something. Most of us have a little excess of something that we can give.

When you're with your club team, every week you have a performance to judge. But when you're with the national team, it's a little different because you might not play for three or four months at a time. Things change constantly.

I genuinely want to do my best every day, and I genuinely want to enjoy life every day.

I've always been active - outdoors, on the beach, playing - and so to go home and have to sit on my couch and relax ... it's frustrating. Sometimes, you just have to really shut yourself down.

The second-highest honor is playing for your country, and the highest honor is wearing the armband for your country. It shows that the players have confidence in me, and that feels good.

When people say 'American soccer,' they think of the U.S. national team. But American soccer also includes Major League Soccer, and until we have a league that produces players at the rate other leagues around the world do, I don't believe we'll ever get to where we want to be.

Fortunately for me, it's my most favorite drill, and that is finishing. However, from a young age, soccer players in this country are not taught how to properly finish, and I think you see that through the professional ranks, that we don't have that killer instinct of the forwards from other countries.

As a spectator, you get to watch everything, but I'd much rather be playing than watching. I'll have time to watch later in my career.

I miss driving to Goodison Park. I miss just the positive energy of the fans walking into the stadium and how much they care about that club and the team. And I miss the players a lot.

There have been weeks when I've not been hydrating properly or not eating properly or training too hard. When I do that, I don't feel good. It has to be the exact formula.