If you're going to announce your retirement, doing it the day after scoring the winning goal against Bayern Munich in the MLS All-Star game is a dramatic way to do it. And that's what Landon Donovan has decided to do. ...

On the surface, Donovan's decision might seem shocking. He's still just 32 years old and playing well for the LA Galaxy. After controversially being left off the U.S.'s World Cup squad earlier this summer, he became the MLS all-time leading scorer — and no one deserves that title more than him.

What Landon Donovan could do has always exceeded what he wanted to do. He began his career as a teenager with Bayer Leverkusen, but joined the San Jose Earthquakes after just one season in Germany to be closer to home. Though he would later flirt with Europe, going on short loan spells with Bayern and twice with Everton, he always went home despite fans and critics constantly begging him to push himself at the game's highest levels.

And for that, MLS owes a great deal of thanks to Donovan. When many of the U.S.'s best players only cared about making it to Europe, Donovan maintained his own priorities that didn't that were best for him and the league. And when most of them returned to MLS, he was still there.