Landon Donovan shares how he coped with the pressure of three World Cups, in this exclusive essay.
I had an immense sense of pride playing for LA Galaxy because I grew up in Los Angeles and felt I was representing the city. But when you play for your country, as I did in the 2002, 2006 and 2010 World Cups, there is a different kind of responsibility.
There might have been one or two times in my career where I felt some anxiety on the field about my performance, but I was always really good at being present in the moment and just focusing on the next play. I developed an ability to move on. But I learned from the experience. I promised myself that I was not going to keep playing if I was not going to commit to playing the way I knew how, every time I stepped on the field. I didn't have to be perfect, but I at least had to play with intention. I carried that promise with me for the rest of my career.
With an experienced group, if a match doesn't go well, you know how to turn it around. In our second game in the 2010 World Cup, we were down 2-0 at half-time to Slovenia. A young, inexperienced team would probably crumble at that point but we had a lot of experienced guys who had been in situations like that, so we were able to claw our way back and tie the game 2-2, which gave us the opportunity to win in the third game, and advance, which we did.
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