US soccer legend Landon Donovan opens up on mental health struggles, redefining success

American soccer great Landon Donovan talks to Fox News Digital about the themes in his new book, "Landon: A Memoir."

Landon Donovan may be one of the most recognizable American men’s soccer players of all time.

Donovan was a part of the 2002 World Cup that made it to the quarterfinals and helped them get out of the group stage in 2010 following a disappointing outing in 2006. He scored one of the most memorable goals in 2010 in extra time to put the U.S. over Algeria and advance to the knockout stage.

With the highs that carried Donovan to newfound fame, there were also tremendous lows.

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Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Landon Donovan in action against Orlando City FC at StubHub Center on Sept. 11, 2016. (Gary A. Vasquez/USA Today Sports)

Donovan details his bout with depression, reconfiguring what success meant to him and his incredible soccer career in his new book, "Landon: A Memoir," which is set to be released Tuesday.

He opened up to Fox News Digital about his mental health struggles and what depression looked like for him.

"I had two different types of experiences with depression," he said. "I realized through therapy and in retrospect that I’ve had an underlying depression, low-level depression my whole life that I deal with today. So, there are days where I wake up and I just feel down and sad and that is very manageable for me now. I’ve learned how to live with that.

"But then I’ve also had three episodes in my life of very serious depressive episodes that have lasted weeks that have been really, really hard to get out of. So, what that looked liked for me – not being able to get off the couch, not wanting to eat and just feeling like there’s a massive blanket on