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Message: [QUOTE="UConNick, post: 2767913, member: 3806"] Donovan will always be an interesting case. He followed that up with winning Best Young Player at the 2002 World Cup. The last two winners of that award? Thomas Muller in 2010 and Paul Pogba in 2014. There's no denying the pieces were there from a young age for him to get to the highest levels with the right motivation and training. He did sign with Bayer Leverkusen after the '99 youth cup, but then couldn't crack the first team so wound up in MLS and seemed content there for the rest of his career. Loan spells with Bayern and Everton didn't show anyone anything. Had he stuck it out with Leverkusen in those early years, who knows. Instead he got the MLS MVP Trophy named after him. A hollow reward for a player of his potential, I'm sure many would agree. [/QUOTE]