Donovan in New York to talk soccer with Kay

What the U.S. soccer team took from its just-ended 2010 World Cup adventure, Landon Donovan said during yesterday's CenterStage taping session in Manhattan, was that "people really care what we're doing back home."

Confronted by host Michael Kay with the decades-old question of whether soccer ever can become a "major" sport here, Donovan said, "In the life of my career, I'd say, 'No.' In my life, it's going to happen."

What it will take, Donovan offered, is "more moments like we had" in South Africa, where three consecutive dramatic American comebacks - for two ties and a victory - fueled enormous jumps on U.S. television ratings that led to a viral spread of awareness in the social media.

During the hour-long session, taped for airing on the YES Network at 11 p.m. July 23, Kay - describing himself as "soccer challenged" and seeking several comparisons to baseball - spoke of the sport in terms of divine intervention, with Donovan as the potential godsend for some future soccer kingdom.

But Donovan, at 28 the central U.S. player in three consecutive World Cups, presented a Theory of Evolution espoused by the soccer community for years. "In 2002 and 2006, YouTube - I don't know if it was around. Certainly not Twitter and Facebook," Donovan said. It was the morning after the team's theatrical defeat of Algeria, he said, that players became aware "of all the people cheering back home; it was really special."

What the recent fuss means, he said, "is hard to quantify. I've been back [in the U.S.] 30 hours now. I've seen an incredible welcome. It's the first time I've felt that sort of love" from the American public. Still, he reminded that the Yanks' 2002 run to the World Cup quarterfinals - and a tense 1-0 loss to eventual Cup runner-up Germany - long ago presented glimpses of the sport's growing impact on the U.S. sports culture.

"I think, even though the Internet wasn't what it is today, we got the feeling that was special," Donovan said. "I remember getting into the L.A. airport, and on the front cover of the L.A. Times was a picture of us lying down on the field after that loss . . . and I knew things were changing.

"Where it goes from here is anybody's guess. Our job is to keep building on the fan base." And, by extension, he added, to enlarge the pool of player talent among the youth. "Let's face it," Donovan said, "kids like fame and money and athletes being stars" and thus traditionally have been drawn to football, baseball and basketball.

Donovan patiently explained to Kay what the player positions are in soccer, as well as the concept of added time. "We're growing," he said of American soccer. And he submitted that one reason for increased public excitement was that "we played with the American spirit. It's kind of cheesy to say that, but we had things go against us, but we kept going."