CARSON, Calif. -- A day after a record setting night against Chivas USA, LA Galaxy captain Landon Donovan took off for Mexico for the U.S.' friendly at the Estadio Azteca on Wednesday. Before departing for Mexico, Donovan spoke to reporters following the Galaxy's 4-0 victory over Chivas.
Below are Donovan's thoughts ahead of the friendly.
(On playing at Azteca...)
DONOVAN: “Any time that we play in Azteca, it’s pretty raucous, but I think that it will be a pretty exciting night, I would guess. We’ve been saying for a number of years how good their youth is and how well they’re producing players. Their 17s, their 20s and now their Olympic team so the future certainly looks bright for them and it’s going to be a big test for us.”
(On the importance of the friendly...)
DONOVAN: “Candidly, I don’t think it’s that important, but for a lot of guys that don’t get a lot of experience, I think that this will be a good experience, but it’s an awkward fixture date and I would say that most if not all the players don’t like this fixture date, we’d much rather do away with it, but it’s still a good opportunity to get a game like this.”
(On whether playing Mexico makes it more important...)
DONOVAN: “Sure, all things being equal it’s still against Mexico so we’ll be ready to play.”
(On former teammate Alan Gordon's call up...)
DONOVAN: “I just heard that, is that true? I didn’t even know that he was healthy, he didn’t play last night, did he? I think that we can say that he’s been as effective as a forward as anybody has been in the last few months of the season. I’m really happy for him, I’ll be happy to see him and if he gets a chance to play, what a great experience. We’ll see.”
