Landon Donovan Coming out of Retirement, Rejoins L.A. Galaxy

LOS ANGELES, CA — Landon Donovan, long considered one of the country's most dominant soccer players, confirmed Thursday he is coming out of retirement and will rejoin his old team, the Los Angeles Galaxy, for the remainder of the Major League Soccer season.

Donovan, 34, retired after the 2014 season. At the time, Donovan said he wanted to pursue other opportunities outside of soccer.

“However, after spending half my life as a professional soccer player, I also am excited to begin a new chapter and pursue other opportunities that will challenge me and allow me to grow as a person,” he wrote on his Facebook in 2014 announcing his retirement.

In an announcement posted on his Facebook page, Donovan said he decided to return after watching the Galaxy fall victim to a series of injures to key players, including Jelle Van Damme, Steven Gerrard and Gyasi Zardes.

"Since my retirement, I have remained in close contact with many of the staff and players on the Galaxy," he wrote. "I spoke with some of them that week and they jokingly asked if I was ready to make a return to the field to help fill some of the void left by the injuries and departures."

He noted that he has not played for nearly two years and likely could no longer fill the shoes of the injured players, but he believes, "I could help in a small way to aid the team in its quest for a 6th MLS championship."

Donovan said he spoke to head coach Bruce Arena, and "we both agreed that if this was going to happen, the expectations would be minimal and he would use me in situations that made sense for the team."

"I've spent a lot of time speaking with my family and close friends over the past several days, and we all agreed that this would be a wonderful opportunity and a win-win situation for everyone," he wrote.

Before retiring, Donovan helped the Galaxy capture their fifth MLS Cup Trophy in a win over the New England Revolution, which also was his last game with the team.

— City News Service contributed to this report. Photo courtesy of the L.A. Galaxy