Landon Donovan decides on March return

Landon Donovan agrees a deal to report for training with Los Angeles Galaxy in late March, ruling him out of two World Cup qualifiers and four Major League Soccer matches.

By Liam Power, Reporter

Published: February 18 2013 | 05:32

Last updated: February 18 2013 | 12:51

Los Angeles Galaxy captain Landon Donovan has quashed rumours of retirement by announcing that he will return to training in late March.

Donovan struggled with fatigue for much of 2012 but kept playing to help Galaxy retain their Major League Soccer title in December.

The American international has not played since and will not be back in time for the USA's crucial World Cup qualifiers against Costa Rica and Mexico next month.

Galaxy coach Bruce Arena confirmed in a statement today that he has allowed Donovan to report late for pre-season training.

He said: "After a series of collaborative discussions between Landon, his representatives and our key club leaders, we have agreed to allow Landon to remain on an extended leave of absence.

"We understand this agreement is not ideal, but we are confident it will allow Landon the time he needs to be both mentally and physically prepared for the upcoming season."

The 31-year-old will miss Galaxy's first six games in all competitions.

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Eastern Conference

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Inter Miami Inter Miami	32	20	8	4	72	47	25	68
2	Columbus Crew	31	16	9	6	62	36	26	57
3	FC Cincinnati Cincinnati	32	17	5	10	55	44	11	56
4	Orlando City	32	14	7	11	55	47	8	49
5	New York Red Bulls NY Red Bulls	32	11	14	7	52	45	7	47
6	New York City FC NY City	32	13	8	11	51	46	5	47
7	Charlotte FC Charlotte FC	32	12	9	11	41	37	4	45
8	CF Montreal Montreal	32	10	10	12	46	62	-16	40
9	Philadelphia Union Philadelphia	32	9	10	13	59	50	9	37
10	DC United	32	9	10	13	50	66	-16	37
11	Toronto	33	11	4	18	40	60	-20	37
12	Atlanta United Atlanta	32	8	10	14	42	47	-5	34
13	Nashville SC Nashville	32	8	9	15	34	51	-17	33
14	New England Revolution New England	31	9	4	18	34	62	-28	31
15	Chicago Fire	33	7	9	17	40	59	-19	30

Western Conference

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy	32	18	7	7	66	47	19	61
2	Los Angeles FC Los Angeles	31	16	7	8	55	41	14	55
3	Real Salt Lake Salt Lake	32	14	11	7	62	47	15	53
4	Seattle Sounders Seattle	32	15	8	9	49	34	15	53
5	Houston Dynamo Houston	32	14	9	9	45	35	10	51
6	Colorado Rapids Colorado	32	15	5	12	59	56	3	50
7	Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver	31	13	8	10	50	44	6	47
8	Minnesota United Minnesota Utd	32	13	7	12	53	48	5	46
9	Portland Timbers Portland	32	12	9	11	64	55	9	45
10	Austin FC Austin	32	10	9	13	35	44	-9	39
11	Dallas	32	10	7	15	52	55	-3	37
12	St Louis City	32	7	13	12	46	59	-13	34
13	Sporting Kansas City Kansas	32	8	7	17	50	61	-11	31
14	San Jose Earthquakes Earthquakes	32	6	3	23	40	74	-34	21

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Landon Donovan decides on March return

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