CARSON, Calif. -- LA Galaxy captain Landon Donovan suffered an apparent left knee injury in Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Real Salt Lake.
Donovan picked up the injury in the 81st minute of play when he seemingly collided with RSL defender Jamison Olave on the left side of the penalty area. The knock kept Donovan down for several minutes, but the Galaxy captain was ultimately able to walk away under his own power before being subbed in the 85th minute for Jose Villarreal. Donovan told reporters after the match that the collision "didn't feel good" and he will be tested "as soon as possible."
There is some solace for Galaxy and U.S. national team fans, however, as Donovan revealed that he did not hear a pop in the midst of the collision.
As for Donovan's status for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers with the U.S. national team, Donovan said his status is "TBD" or to be determined.
Below are Donovan's thoughts on the match.
DONOVAN: "We're a little disappointed in the game. I'm not worried about [the international break] right now. We had a pretty good first half and then we fell asleep for a few minutes as Espindola made two good plays. It was frustrating, I thought we had some really good chances, they were scrambling a bit and making some last ditched blocks to dodge the bullet, but give them credit, they scored the goals that they needed to."
(On LA playing worse after scoring the first goal...)
DONOVAN: "I thought we played really well in the first half, but in the second half they did a better job of containing us as we didn't have as many chances. We got to do better-- myself included -- to score some of those and make it two or three to zero so that the game is over and we weren't able to do that."
(On whether RSL is better at blocking shots...)
DONOVAN: "It's the way that the game goes sometimes. It's not necessarily a skill or an art form. It's just that you put yourself there and the ball hits you. Tonight the ball hit them."
(On avoiding the Knock Out Round game...)
DONOVAN: "That's the goal, but that goal just got a lot more difficult. We're probably going to have to win both games and then see what happens. These were always going to be hard games. This was a disappointing one because we're playing a team that was within reach so then now they built a little bit of a gap, but we've known all along that this is going to be a battle at the end. Ideally, we don't play in the [Knock Out Round game] but if that's what happens then we're a team that can overcome."
(On whether it matters more to finish in second place rather than third...)
DONOVAN: "No, I don't think that we're too worry about that part. The goal is to be at least third and if you're fourth obviously, there is a disadvantage in playing the extra game, but we're a deep and if we have to do that then we have to do it."
