Landon Donovan has been amazingly resilient and resistant to injury throughout a career that’s longer than you might think at this point.
The man is already on his 12th MLS season. Since he became a starting lineup fixture in 2003, Donovan has never failed to play at least 22 games. When he does miss, it’s usually for international duty rather than due to sprains, strains, niggles and knocks.
But the L.A. Galaxy attacker is 30 now, having signed his first professional deal almost 13 years ago. That’ a lot of wear and tear on the tires, so it’s reasonable to assume that he may deal with injury inconvenience more frequently going forward, as the sands of pro soccer time slip inexorably away.
We may even be seeing a bit of it now. It turns out that Donovan is still dealing with a left hamstring strain and that he may not be available tonight as his Galaxy opens CONCACAF Champions League opener against El Salvador’s Metapán.
It’s an injury he apparently collected in the first half last week of the United States’ win over Mexico at the Azteca Stadium.
What he told reporters following practice on Wednesday, according to the LA Galaxy Insider Blog: “We’re going to see how it is tomorrow. We’ll kind of play it by ear and hope that I can contribute tomorrow.”
Tonight’s match from the Home Depot Center begins at 10 p.m. ET on Fox Soccer Channel.
