Donovan aims for perfection

We expect a lot from our superheroes. No matter how many times one of our caped pals pulls humanity from a sling, we don't want to spot 'em sitting one out, sipping a warm café mocha at the corner coffee shop while masked rascals make off with the loot across the street.

So it is with Landon Donovan.

There is no question that Donovan, still just 23 years old, is a special player. Few of Major League Soccer's 300-plus wage earners can change a game like the kid from Redlands, Calif.

Certainly, no American-born player in the league can dominate an MLS game like Donovan -- perhaps no one of any lineage this side of Youri Djorkaeff. Just one of his slashing dashes through a defense might be enough to finish the other guys. Go ask the Colorado Rapids, who paid a heavy price for failing to contain that signature change of speed on two occasions in last week's conference final.

But the black mark against Donovan has always been this: he coasts through some games. He was certainly worse about it a few years ago. Some matches, he might as well have been in the stands waving a foam finger for all the good he did on the field. There's no question that Donovan is gaining in consistency as he matures.

This much has never been in question: The man shows up for the big MLS matches. Always has. He's a master at locating that extra gear, that something special. He knows just how to summon that edge the postseason demands.

No offense to Hercules Gomez, Cobi Jones, et al. But a pretty ordinary-looking Los Angeles bunch would not be jetting to the Dallas suburbs for this week's MLS Cup final if not for a certain curly-headed attacker. Donovan's four goals in three playoff games not only provided the Galaxy with a shot at its second MLS title but those critical strikes probably saved Steve Sampson's job.

New England might well put the better 11 on the baby-bottom smooth Pizza Hut Park field Sunday (No football lines! Su-weeet!). But if Steve Nicol's men can't chase, harass and generally neutralize Donovan -- and Shalrie Joseph's ailing ankle might limit how much ground he can cover, making that a taller order -- the Revs easily could emerge on the wrong end of the score.

Donovan has that kind of ability. At just 23, he's already the league's all-time leader in career playoff goals with 14. He just passed Roy Lassiter, who earned most of his tallies off the back end of assists from those proficient D.C. United teams of the late 1990s.

Most of Donovan's strikes came while at San Jose. Those teams were adequately talented and were steered expertly by Frank Yallop. But you could argue that Donovan was driving the truck as it smashed through the postseason.

Donovan got his first bite of the MLS Cup apple in 2001, in Columbus. He was 19. Los Angeles took an early lead on Luis Hernandez's goal. But before intermission, Richard Mulrooney and Ian Russell cobbled together some nice work along the right flank. Russell lost the ball, and Donovan was quick to the right spot, clobbering a right-footed shot.

Top corner. Kevin Hartman had no chance.

Dwayne De Rosario got the overtime winner and Donovan had his first MLS championship ring. He also had five goals and two assists in his first six-game MLS postseason dance, dandy production by anyone's standards.

Two years later, Donovan was even more influential in San Jose's successful reach for a title. He scored twice and earned game MVP honors as San Jose took down Chicago, 4-2. By then, the Donovan legend was in full flourish. He started every match in the United States' surprising quarterfinal dash at World Cup 2002. He scored twice, including a memorable strike against Mexico in an elimination encounter.

But the book on Donovan, complimentary as it was, contained a couple of unflattering chapters. Anyone watching could see that he clearly downshifted for a few MLS games. Even he admitted the motivation wasn't always easily accessible.

That Donovan would scale back here and there shouldn't have surprised anyone. He's clearly a fabulous soccer player -- but one who recognizes that there's more out there and doesn't consume the sport in that eat-and-breathe way. Otherwise, he'd be at Bayer Leverkusen or some other European address at this very minute, ignoring the bad weather and suppressing the fond memories of days and nights in sunny SoCal -- the lures that pulled him back to the cushy L.A. life.

Donovan says he has worked feverishly this year to be more consistent, to motivate himself for every kickoff.

"People just don't understand; that's what it comes down to," Donovan said this week. "I don't know how to compare it to anyone else's everyday life. ... It's just difficult, mentally and physically, to always be 100 percent."

He says some of the sporadic malaise comes down to injuries, which fans might not see. They see the same person, the same uniform, the same general movement on the field. What they don't recognize is that ankle, knee or hip ailment that's making every step painful.

Or maybe distracting things are going on at home, Donovan says. "I've said it before: When I have one thing to focus on, I play my best," he said.

Then again, part of his handsome $900,000 compensation package -- tops in MLS -- is being professional enough to stash the distractions for 90 minutes at a time.

That's where the "he's 23" part comes around again. Donovan could be in his first year out of college. He might well have three World Cups still before him, starting with next summer's happenings in Germany. So, he has time to bang out the dents in his otherwise prodigious game.

Internationally, Donovan has yet to reach the point where he's playing big in every big match. Sometimes he's on -- like in the 2004 friendly against Mexico, where he absolutely dominated the second half in a 1-0 American win. In the recent World Cup qualifier against Mexico in Columbus, Donovan was far less influential.

Donovan, too, says he has time to improve, to find a way to rise up and summon that game-in, game-out edge.

"I've worked harder at that than on anything else in my life professionally," he said. "Maybe it doesn't always come off that way, but I felt this year was clearly my best year for being consistent."

Steve Davis covers soccer for The Dallas Morning News and ESPNsoccernet. He can be reached at stevedavis@dallasnews.com