Donovan returns to Germany with something to prove

US playmaker Landon Donovan, a disappointing Bundesliga flop last year in a three-month stint at Bayer Leverkusen, seen here on 12 May 2006, has something to prove when he returns to Germany next month for the World Cup.

US playmaker Landon Donovan, a disappointing Bundesliga flop last year in a three-month stint at Bayer Leverkusen, has something to prove when he returns to Germany next month for the World Cup.

The 24-year-old midfielder insists he carries no personal grudges into the global football showdown, instead championing the American team's desire to show that a 2002 quarter-final run at South Korea was no fluke.

"I'm not going there to prove I can play and I'm good enough to be there," Donovan said. "Germany, South Africa or Antarctica - I couldn't care less. It's about our team gaining respect.

"Then again, maybe things will change when I get there."

Donovan, who now plays for the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer, is the US poster boy of football. He and actress girlfriend Biancha Kajlich live near Hollywood.

He has sparked three MLS championship runs and helped lift the US team into a best-ever number four FIFA ranking.

"Hopefully what happened in 2002 helped change the way the rest of the world sees the United States, but teams that are remembered most are those that consistently perform at a high level," Donovan said.

Donovan has been willing to make personal sacrifices for team gains. US coach Bruce Arena has moved Donovan from the forward line into midfield. He has been yanked between both roles with no complaint, serving where necessary.

"I love winning. Any team I'm on I expect to win," Donovan said. "I don't think I could have said that 10 years ago."

Donovan was captain in a 1-1 draw with Jamaica last month and will be a pivotal leader for the US World Cup squad, evolving from his impressive two-goal showing at the 2002 World Cup.

"He's older and has a lot more experience," Arena said. "He responds well to the captain's armband."

In February of 1999, Donovan signed with Leverkusen at age 16, the youngest US player ever to sign with a European club. But Donovan was unable to crack the starting lineup and Leverkusen loaned him to the San Jose Earthquakes.

Improving his game, Donovan led San Jose to a pair of MLS crowns before making the jump back to Bayer in early 2005, hopeful of fulfilling the promise seen years earlier.

Instead, there was only frustration. A homesick Donovan managed two starts in nine games and returned home to MLS, this time allocated to the Galaxy.

"I had games where I was poor. It just didn't work out," Donovan said. "Sometimes things don't happen the way you want."

Donovan has scored 25 goals in 78 caps for the American squad, third on the all-time US list and nine shy of Eric Wynalda's record.

He is also the leading goal creator in American history, his passes finding the heads and feet of teammates 23 times to set a US record for "assists."

Despite often being the smallest player on the field at 1.73m and 67kg, Donovan is often the most dangerous, whether it is finishing with a flourish, finding a teammate with a pinpoint pass or reacting quickly after being fouled.

"Too often we let teams off the hook," Donovan said. "When you get fouled there are a lot of times you can put the ball down and play and teams of kind of walking out there. At this level it can make a difference."

That's the thinking that has turned the US squad from a defense-minded side into an aggressive one confident of World Cup success.

"Player for player we're good enough to succeed," Donovan said. "Spirit-wise we're better than most teams in the world. How can you count us out?"