Donovan claims MVP ahead of MLS decider

United States and L.A. Galaxy striker Landon Donovan has been named Most Valuable Player in Major League Soccer, beating out fellow finalists Jeff Cunningham of FC Dallas and New England Revolution midfielder Shalrie Joseph.

Donovan, who has captained his side to the MLS Cup final against Real Salt Lake on Sunday, received the most votes in polling of players, general managers, coaches and the media after scoring 15 goals in 28 games.

"As an athlete to be honoured individually is great," Donovan said. "What is special about this is that its not just fans or media voting it is also your peers - and when your peers name you the best player, I think that's special."

Meanwhilem team-mate David Beckham, has stated that despite the troubles that have accompanied his time in the United States he had never considered abandoning the team. Beckham's loyalty has been questioned by supporters, while he was also the target of criticism from Donovan in a book about the England midfielder's time at the Galaxy.

"No, not at all, never. I always committed myself to the MLS and committed myself to (Galaxy owner) Tim Leiweke and the whole franchise," he said. "I always said that I would see it through. There's never a smooth road. There are always a few bumps along the way and there has been. But that's kind of been my career. There have always been ups and downs -- more ups than downs but that's the way it is, that's life."

Beckham, who will return to Milan in January for another loan spell, said while it had been an achievement for the Galaxy to reach the MLS Cup final, which will decide the league title, it would mean little if the team failed to take the championship.

"At the end of the day we've done well this season. We deserve to be where we are, but we still haven't won anything. We might have won in our division, but it means nothing; you want to win everything. So that's what we're going for. At the moment we're enjoying the success of the club and it would be nice to win the game. But there's still a lot of hard work to do before then. We know it's a tough game against Salt Lake, so we're preparing and I'm sure we'll be ready."