{"id":8524,"date":"2026-05-21T17:32:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T17:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=8524"},"modified":"2026-05-21T17:32:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T17:32:11","slug":"dunn-ocysf-kicks-off-fifa-world-cup-with-honors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=8524","title":{"rendered":"Dunn: OCYSF kicks off FIFA World Cup with honors"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Southern California is preparing to host the FIFA World Cup beginning June 11, and the nonprofit Orange County Youth Sports Foundation provided an appropriate kickoff at its annual banquet, honoring two of the biggest stars in soccer, Landon Donovan and Alexi Lalas, as Sportsmen of the Year.<\/p>\n

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\u201cNever before has one of our banquets been more relevant based on a world-class event coming to our backyard in a matter of weeks,\u201d said Blain Skinner, one of several Newport Beach residents who serve on the OCYSF board.<\/p>\n

Donovan and Lalas dazzled the sold-out crowd at the Hyatt Regency Irvine on May 6 with tales, quips and insights. It also felt like a passing of the torch as the men\u2019s World Cup returns to U.S. soil for the first time since 1994.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are two words that come to mind regarding the upcoming World Cup: Opportunity and responsibility,\u201d said Lalas, a renowned defender on the U.S. Men\u2019s National Team (USMNT) during the 1994 World Cup and heralded as one of the sport\u2019s most recognizable and celebrated personalities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is an opportunity this year for getting a lot of people in the tent, or into the tent, for the first time, or for some the first time in a while, or maybe some have never watched soccer before and they\u2019re in the tent and seeing this beautiful game for the first time and hopefully it will always be there for them,\u201d said Lalas, also a key USMNT member at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games and 1998 FIFA World Cup, while becoming the first American to play in Italy\u2019s top division, Serie A, with club Padova, before moving to Major League Soccer in 1996.<\/p>\n

\u201cDown the road (those fans) might say, \u2018Wow, there was nothing like that 2026 U.S. World Cup team,\u2019 and then there\u2019s the responsibility of the 2026 team to make sure those fans have as positive an experience as possible,\u201d Lalas added.<\/p>\n

Lalas, the flame-haired center back with a goatee and fearlessness on the pitch, was a cultural lightning rod in the summer of 1994 as youth soccer exploded across the U.S. and MLS was born two years later. America began to believe that soccer belonged.<\/p>\n

\u201c(The World Cup) changed my life in 1994,\u201d said Lalas, who helped move soccer in the U.S. from the fringe to the front page. \u201cAlso, the game showed what it could do for our country, the way soccer is perceived around the world. But it changed here. This summer, we\u2019ll celebrate how far we\u2019ve come in soccer.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n<\/div>\n

Donovan, the quiet assassin whose goals defined a generation, played in three FIFA World Cups for the U.S. and retired from the game in 2018, tied with former teammate Clint Dempsey as the all-time leading scorer in USMNT history with 57 goals.<\/p>\n

The lone American to surpass both 50 goals and 50 assists in his career, Donovan was the only U.S. player to win the Golden Ball Award, FIFA\u2019s Best Young Player of the 2002 World Cup, the CONCACAF Gold Cup MVP in 2013, the Gold Cup Best XI four times and U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year a record four times.<\/p>\n

Donovan earned six MLS Cups, retired as the all-time U.S. assist leader and is widely known for his stoppage-time goal against Algeria in 2010, which remains one of the most replayed moments in USMNT annals.<\/p>\n

But, as Donovan explained to the OCYSF banquet audience, his journey began in anonymity.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIn 1998, it was not a good World Cup for the U.S., but in 2002, for the first time, I remember coming off the plane from Korea and this lady came up to me and said, \u2018Landon, great job,\u2019 and that was the first time I got recognized for something I did in soccer and it made such an impact on me,\u201d Donovan said. \u201cWe used to play at Mile High Stadium in (Denver) Colorado and Gillette Stadium in (Foxboro, Mass.) and you could count how many people were in the stands. Now all the games are sold out and the stadiums are packed like the other countries, so the game has changed dramatically.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since 1971, OCYSF has been committed to supporting Orange County youth sports for those who struggle with financial limitations or lack of access. The nonprofit, founded in Newport Beach, provides scholarships, grants and community support for young athletes.<\/p>\n

Richard Dunn, a longtime sportswriter, writes the Dunn Deal column regularly for The Orange County Register\u2019s weekly, The Coastal Current North.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Richard Dunn, a longtime sportswriter, writes the Dunn Deal column regularly for The Orange County Register’s weekly, The Coastal Current North.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion-columnist","category-represents-the-opinion-of-the-author-who-is-either-a-paid-columnist-or-an-unpaid-guest-columnist"],"yoast_head":"\nDunn: OCYSF kicks off FIFA World Cup with honors - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=8524\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dunn: OCYSF kicks off FIFA World Cup with honors - 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