USA’s Donovan reconciled in more ways than one
By Martin Rogers, Yahoo! Sports Thursday, Jun 24, 2010
Follow Martin Rogers on Twitter at @mrogersyahoo
IRENE, South Africa — Landon Donovan’s dramatic goal on Wednesday didn’t just keep the United States in the World Cup. It also may have paved the way for a reconciliation with his estranged actress wife.
Donovan and “Rules of Engagement” star Bianca Kajlich had an emotional telephone conversation in the early hours of Thursday morning after he had blown her an on-camera kiss just moments after scoring the winner against Algeria.
And despite publicly baring his soul about “getting divorced” on several occasions over the past few months, Donovan told Yahoo! Sports on Thursday that the marriage is not over.
[Photos: See more of Donovan’s ex, actress Bianca Kajlich]
“We are not officially divorced,” he said. “We spoke last night; it was nice.”
The Los Angeles Galaxy star and Kajlich married in 2006 and split last year after he had returned from a loan spell with German side Bayern Munich.
The 28-year-old Donovan has always insisted that, despite the problems which caused the breakup, what he had learned from Kajlich helped him deal with the disappointment following the 2006 World Cup — when he failed to live up to his potential and grow as a person and a player.
“I think every comment I got when I told people I was getting divorced was, ‘I’m so sorry,’ ” Donovan said during the team’s pre-World Cup training camp in Princeton. “It is not always the case that it has to be ‘sorry.’
“Sometimes you learn more from those moments than anything. For me, that was certainly the case. It doesn’t have to be something ugly or nasty. It can be helpful and you can grow from it. That is what we both took from it.”
Wednesday’s 1-0 U.S. victory over Algeria — thanks to Donovan’s goal deep into injury time — set up a knockout-stage clash with Ghana on Saturday in Rustenburg.
Donovan looked content and comfortable when asked about Kajlich by Yahoo! Sports on Thursday, and wore the look of a man who’d just experienced a perfect few hours.
The World Cup has gone to plan so far. Now his private life seems to be following suit.
“It would surprise no one if Landon and Bianca were back together very soon,” said a friend of Kajlich who speaks with her on a regular basis. “They have remained in contact and are very close to one another.”
The person, who asked for anonymity while not wanting to speak publicly about the private life of a friend, said Donovan’s gesture after the game was meaningful: “The fact that Landon wanted to share his special moment with her is very significant.”