One Final Cup Final: Landon Leaves on Top
One Final Cup Final: Landon Leaves on Top
One Final Cup Final: Landon Leaves on Top
The air feels different for a cup final.In these matches, only one side leaves as a champion, with their names etched onto silver and into history. The other simply leaves.
Apertures of attention contract to 90 minutes — or 120, plus penalties, if the universe is feeling particularly cruel. There is no “next time”.
Legs stretch a little farther. Tackles crunch a little harder. Hearts beat a little faster.
You could feel them pounding on Sunday in Los Angeles, when the hometown LA Galaxy defeated the New England Revolution, 2-1 in extra-time — a win that not only secured a league-best fifth MLS Cup, but also concluded the career of Landon Donovan, the most decorated American player of all-time, on a high note.
After 16 years as the face of soccer stateside, Donovan retired at the same place he’s been so many times before (six, to be exact): Atop MLS, the league he has done more to build than any other player.
It was a fairytale final chapter worthy of an icon who didn’t just shatter records, but definitively changed American sports culture — and did so graciously, candidly, humanly, and on his own terms.
For this, Sunday’s cup final — unlike so many that live long in the memories of fans — was as bittersweet as it was celebratory. It marked the end of an era: for Donovan, for the LA Galaxy, for American soccer, and for all of us who were lucky enough to watch him.
But, while Donovan may be leaving the sport, he’s doing so as a champion — in every sense of the word.
