MIAMI – Landon Donovan is quite familiar with new LA Galaxy goalkeeper Jaime Penedo due to their tussles at the international level, but now that the Panamanian ‘keeper is a part of LA, the forward is pleased to have him on board.
Penedo and Donovan have battled numerous times over the years as the 31-year-old ‘keeper and the 31-year-old forward began their international careers with Panama and the U.S. at around the same time. Their most recent meeting came just last month when the Donovan-led U.S. National Team defeated Pinedo’s Panama 1-0 in the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup Final.
Both players ended the tournament with plenty of individual honors as Donovan took home the tournament’s Golden Boot award for leading goalscorer and Golden Ball for the competition’s most valuable player while Penedo earned the Golden Gloves for best ‘keeper.
“I've Jaime from a distance for a long time. He’s been with Panama for many years now, and I remember him when he was a young guy, and he'd probably say the same about me,” said Donovan. “We've sort of grown up through these qualifying and Gold Cups together. It’s nice to see him. He looks like a friendly and nice guy, and hopefully he can help us.”
