USA soccer star talks about the importance of volunteering at New York conference. By Kyle Anderson, with reporting by Akshay Bhansali Landon Donovan Photo: MTV News If Tuesday night’s forum for the National Conference on Volunteering and Service had happened a month ago, undoubtedly the biggest audience response would have gone to former first daughter Barbara Bush or Ben Nemtin from MTV’s “The Buried Life.” But then Landon Donovan’s 2010 FIFA World Cup heroics happened and captivated a suddenly soccer-loving American public, which meant that he scored the biggest and most prolonged cheers from the crowd of students and young people gathered in the spirit of spreading the word about giving back. Donovan talked about the importance of public service, something he said he got from his parents. “I come from a background with teachers everywhere, and my mom taught special ed for 29 years, so if there’s a definition of giving and service to a community, I think being a special-ed teacher is way up there,” he told MTV News after speaking to the group. The soccer star doesn’t just talk the talk, either. He has been active in a number of different charities and service organizations that he has managed to help through his participation on the U.S. national soccer squad. Most recently, the Los Angeles Galaxy player has been working with a group to try to stamp out malaria in Africa. “The people from United Against Malaria approached me and asked me if I wanted to be a part of their campaign, and for me it was perfect,” Donovan said. “No better way to get awareness than a World Cup. Everybody was watching — the first World Cup in Africa. Ten dollars buys a net that literally saves a family’s lives. The biggest thing is getting awareness out there. Not just awareness in other countries but also awareness in Africa — letting people know it’s as simple as going out and buying a net to help save yourself.” Donovan also shared his musical obsessions (he digs hip-hop but tends to listen to more laid-back stuff like the Fray before games) and talked about how he dealt with the United States’ elimination from the tournament at the hands of Ghana in the round of 16 last Saturday. “We’ve all lost plenty of games in our lives, but when you lose in a World Cup, it’s different and it’s more disappointing,” he explained. “The finality of it all is the hard part. You realize that everything you’ve put in for so long is gone and you have to wait another four years. That’s the part that’s most difficult to take.”
Go here to see the original:
Landon Donovan Says ‘Finality’ Is Hardest Part Of Losing World Cup
