Galaxy’s Landon Donovan to make final U.S. team appearance Oct. 10

Galaxy forward Landon Donovan will make his final appearance with the U.S. national team Oct. 10 in a friendly match against Ecuador, the Galaxy said Tuesday.

The match will be played at Rentschier Field in East Hartford, Conn. Donovan announced Aug. 7 that this would be his final year as a player.

Donovan not only holds the Major League Soccer career scoring record with 140 goals but also is the career leader for the U.S. team in goals (57) and assists (58). In addition, the veteran of three World Cup tournaments holds the record for American goals in World Cup play with five.

But in May, U.S. Coach Juergen Klinsmann cut the 32-year-old Donovan from the U.S. squad ahead of this summer’s World Cup, sparking an international debate about whether Donovan should have been on the team.

On Tuesday, however, Klinsmann said on his Twitter account: “Awesome that all @ussoccer fans will have the chance to show appreciation for Landon Donovan’s #USMNT career on 10/10 in Hartford!!”

Donovan said in a statement that “playing for the U.S. national team has been a huge part of my career and I’m ecstatic to have the opportunity to play for my country one last time.”

“I’m so grateful to all the fans that have supported me and this game will give me the chance to say thank you to all of them,” he said.