Landon Donovan has come out of retirement once again. The former Los Angeles Galaxy, MLS and U.S. National Team star is now the newest member of the San Diego Sockers.
The 36-year-old star signed the contract Wednesday but was publicly introduced Thursday.
Donovan was ready to hang up his soccer cleats forever after coming out of retirement for a short stint with Liga MX team Club León in 2018. This wasn’t the first time Donovan unretired. He came out of the retirement in 2016 and finished out the season with the Galaxy.
Coming from outdoor soccer to into indoor soccer will take some adjustment, but it will be a quick learning curve, Donovan said.
“There are crossovers,” he said. “At the end, the objective is the same — trying to score goals and prevent the other team from scoring. But there are of nuances that I’m gonna have to learn. I consider myself a quick learner.”
Not that he needs a lot of learning. Donovan is the most decocorated player in U.S. Soccer history. He’s won six MLS Cups and was the league’s all-time top scorer. In his 157 appearances with the U.S. Men’s National Team, he is the highest scoring male player is U.S. World Cup History.
Donovan, who moved to San Diego three years ago, will make is debut on Feb. 15 when the Sockers host the Tacoma Stars. He is expected to play all home matches, select road games and all playoff matches.
The Sockers are currently 10-1 and in search of their 15th Major Arena Soccer League title in 2019.
Donavan was also part of a group of the backed the failed Soccer City initiative to redevelop SDCCU Stadium and bring an MLS team to San Diego.