CARSON, Calif. – Landon Donovan’s bid to appear in the LA Galaxy’s match against the Montreal Impact is going to come right down to the wire.
Donovan is still dealing with a left ankle injury that forced him to withdraw early from international duty with the U.S. National Team. According to Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena, there is still no update on Donovan -- or defender Omar Gonzalez who is dealing with a left hip strain -- but in an interview with reporters on Tuesday, Donovan admitted that he’s “day-to-day” with an injury that may have been worse than he and the Galaxy initially feared.
“[I'm] not feeling great, but we're going to try to manage it the right way because it’s a little worse than we thought initially. We're going to be smart about it and try to get it ready for a push at the end of the season,” Donovan said. “Something got worse, so it's hard to know if there was an incident or if was just some wear and tear or something, but somewhere along the way, it took a wrong turn.”
With the Galaxy preparing to play a pair of matches this week against Montreal and the San Jose Earthquakes on Sunday—where LA can clinch a berth in the 2013 MLS Cup Playoffs with a victory—Donovan admits that he must be "smart" when deciding when to play.
“We're always hopeful that you wake up one day and it feels good and you can play, and that's how we're going to take it every day,” said Donovan. “It's felt better the last few days by just resting, but we have to wake up and see how it is tomorrow. I’m going to be smart about it. The way that it’s going to be is that to make sure that it's in a position so you're not doing more damage, but if I can play, I want to play.”
If Donovan does participate, he'll have a chance to take sole possession of MLS’ all-time regular season goal scoring record. Donovan is currently tied with Jeff Cunningham with 134 goals.
