[nas] rumour mill>donavan back to germany

[daniel alvarez <vasco1550@yahoo.com.br>]

dont know if this was up yet so here goes
Donovan apparently headed back to Germany 
By RONALD BLUM
AP Sports Writer 
June 18, 2002 


SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- It appears Landon Donovan
will leave Major League Soccer after this season and
return to Bayer Leverkusen in the German Bundesliga. 

The 20-year-old forward, who has scored two goals in
the United States' first four games of the World Cup,
signed with the German club when he was 16. After not
getting into a game in two seasons, MLS acquired him
on a loan before the 2001 season and assigned him to
the San Jose Earthquakes. 

He scored seven goals in 22 games with San Jose in
2001 and has seven goals in 27 games with the U.S.
national team. 

Donovan hasn't talked about his future much during the
World Cup, other than to say he would like to go back
to Europe. He doesn't want to go back to Bayer
Leverkusen merely to not play again, but the German
team owns his rights. U.S. soccer officials have said
Bayer Leverkusen, which lost to Spain's Real Madrid in
the final of the European Champions Cup, wants him
back. 

``I think that's what he's going to be doing,'' U.S.
coach Bruce Arena said Tuesday. ``I think that's what
he will be doing, if I'm not mistaken, after the MLS
season.'' 

Germany coach Rudi Voeller is certain Leverkusen will
recall Donovan later this year. Voeller, preparing for
Friday's World Cup quarterfinal against the United
States, was briefly the coach of Leverkusen and
remembered Donovan. 

``He was very young, but even then it was clear that
he would have a great career ahead of him,'' Voeller
said Tuesday. 


_______________________________________________________________________
Copa 2002
Yahoo! - Patrocinador oficial da Copa do Mundo da FIFA 2002
http://br.sports.yahoo.com/fifaworldcup/

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