It’s not an oversell to say that Landon Donovan is the reason many people under 30 in the United States became soccer fans. He was their peer for a start. And when he made his big stage debut at the 2002 World Cup the sport that had intrigued so many kids when the tournament had been on home soil became even bigger. There was suddenly a promise that the next generation might take American soccer to a different level.

There was much more to Donovan than his first World Cup though. When he came back to the United States permanently to play in Major League Soccer, he legitimized a competition going through severe growing pains. He also earned derision and the nickname Landycakes from some critics for not slogging through and staying the course in Europe. That was just the beginning of a career marked by a gulf between what Donovan wanted and what the soccer world felt was best for him.

The knock against Donovan is understandable in his early years in the league, even though he he won a championship every odd year. When the US flopped flopped at the 2006 World Cup the criticism grew, and his missed penalty in the 2009 MLS Cup final added fuel to the fire that he was just too soft to be US Soccer’s savior.

But there were positive signs too. Donovan had seen MLS expand. With it came an increase in talent, much of which didn’t stay long. Clint Dempsey challenged Donovan in the 2005 MLS Cup but was quickly gone. That was also Michael Bradley’s last season in MLS. Yet Donovan slogged on, defying everyone and continuing to support his domestic league.

Then came the 2010 World Cup, and suddenly Donovan’s star was set. His stoppage time goal against Algeria is still the seminal moment for modern US soccer, seared into the memory of every fan.

It’s probably not a coincidence that when Donovan and the Galaxy got their act together again from 2010 onwards – winning the regular season Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup multiple times – those players started coming back. The league’s media exposure started to increase. Donovan finally got to play in a competition that actually felt as major as it wished to be.

But some would never let Donovan shake the tag that he was somehow weak. Moments like his sabbatical in 2013 lent themselves to the already established narrative that Donovan simply wasn’t strong enough. Athletes weren’t supposed to have mental health issues. So long as their bodies could perform, it’s assumed that an athlete should go out and chase glory for our pleasure.

Maybe he didn’t continue playing until his legs fell off, but that’s something to be admired. It’s fun as fans to invest in narratives and to brag about trophies. For an athlete all there can be is play or don’t play – and Donovan usually played. Looking back at his career going back to 1999 there’s not a year where Donovan played fewer than 20 club games. In a year like 2009, with World Cup qualifying and a loan to Everton, the total was closer to 50.

Donovan played, and he scored. Not only does he hold the MLS records for goals and assists, but he holds them for the United States as well. He started 140 games for the US, the most of any player. That’s the leader of a generation.

The cloud hanging over Donovan will be the vague notion that he could have been something more. If only he’d played more in Europe, the story goes, the US could have advanced to a World Cup semi-final. If only he’d played more in Europe, the US might have had a player considered one of the best in the world.

Instead of dreaming of a theoretical career winning the Champions League and European titles, appreciate Donovan for the incredible legacy he does leave. MLS has doubled in size and now produces World Cup caliber players who have never played abroad. The US is cemented as a World Cup regular, and progressing from their group is now the base expectation. Donovan leaves soccer in the US as healthy as it has ever been. And for that he deserves our thanks.