The reverberations from Jurgen Klinsman’s decision that Landon Donovan was somehow not one of the best 23 American soccer player on the planet continue, but on Sunday night Donovan did his talking on the pitch, as he became the all-time scorer in Major League Soccer.
Donovan had been tied at 134 goals with Jeff Cunningham on the all-time goalscoring list all season. But in the 50th minute against the Philadelphia Union, Donovan was all alone in first place when he turned in a great cross from Galaxy captain Robbie Keane.
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“Well, it’s been a while so there are a lot of emotions,” Donovan admitted about his feelings after breaking the record. “Just getting on the scoreboard again was nice. Hitting the net was nice. Getting the 135 on the back of what happened this week. It was a good feeling.”
But the all-time US national team scorer was not finished yet and he took another feed from Keane and expertly rounded a defender before lashing the ball into the back of the net.
“It’s usually how it goes. Once you get the first one the other ones are a little easier,” Donovan continued. “But like I said yesterday I felt like this form has been coming.”
“I’ve been playing really well. I felt good in camp about how things were going. And I thought there was a goal coming soon. I wasn’t expecting it to be this soon in this game. But I was still happy I could score.”
Two minutes after that second strike, Galaxy manager Bruce Arena made sure Donovan received the adulation from the hometown StubHub Center fans, who serenaded their hero with chants of “USA, USA” as he was substituted for Samuel.
