LA Galaxy players Landon Donovan and Omar Gonzalez will look to move the U.S. National Team one step closer to the 2014 FIFA World Cup on Friday when they take on Costa Rica at the Estadio Nacional in San Jose.
As the U.S. prepares for that vital match against Los Ticos, they’ll have a dangerous weapon in Donovan, who admits that he is playing as well as he’s ever played. Over the past two months, Donovan has scored a combined of 10 goals and tallied nine assists—five goals and two assists coming with the Galaxy—with LA and the U.S.
It may seem surprising that the veteran of three World Cups, who has been named to MLS’ Best XI six times and has won four U.S. Soccer Player of the Year awards, may say such a thing, but Donovan affirmed in Costa Rica on Thursday that he’s feeling as good as he ever has.
“I guess if I had to evaluate, I’d say this is the best I’ve ever played,” he told reporters after the team’s practice on Friday. “The energy I had when I was 20 is pretty close to being matched now, but I have the experience of all the years. Everything has really slowed down for me now. I see everything very clearly on the field. Everything sort of makes sense. “Not every play is perfect, but I feel like every time I get the ball I have a real chance to impact the game. That’s a great feeling. I’m just going to keep enjoying it.”
