LD on Mexico

Landon Donovan 
(leftover quotes from when I spoke to him before his final international game)

Assuming you don’t score against Ecuador, goals against Mexico will bookend your international career. 

Yeah, that's a good story.

Could you speak on that - and also, were you watching when Mexico was on the brink of elimination from the World Cup last year? What were you thinking at that time?

One of my first internationals with the under-17s was against Mexico, so obviously, they’ve been a big part of my career, ups and downs. What I’ve learned is that they’ve helped us so much. Even though there’s been some animosity and negativity around it, without them, soccer here doesn’t grow the same way. 
While a lot of people were probably excited at the prospect of them not making the World Cup, I was not rooting for that. I wanted them to be there. It’s important that they’re there. It’s important that they represent this region, because they’re a good team and they show it every time they play in the World Cup. I’ve had some rough times in games against them throughout my career, but in the end, when I look back, I have so much respect for everything that’s been a part of the rivalry.

Was the biggest down against them when they eliminated the US from the Olympics, or a Gold Cup final?

The biggest down on the field was probably that Olympic qualifying 4-0 loss, yes. Off the field, just dealing with stupid comments that I wish I hadn’t said when I was younger. That kind of stuff brought me a lot of grief from people. I’ve learned from that. But there’s been a lot of very exciting games and we need that rivalry. We need that to continue and I think that’s good for everybody.