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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; LA Galaxy and U.S. national team defender Omar Gonzalez is facing huge expectations on club and country fronts, after signing a DP deal as the World Cup beckons (Ted S. Warren/AP)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;With the whole world at their feet, David Beckham, Robbie Keane and Landon Donovan didn\u2019t just sign with the L.A. Galaxy. They signed again.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CIt\u2019s not a bad place to live is it, Hollywood,\u201D Keane asked rhetorically last winter, shortly after inking his two-year extension&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Omar Gonzalez concurs. Los Angeles is more than a place to live. It\u2019s a lifestyle \u2013 one that\u00A0has played a key role in shaping a career about to take off. And as the demands and expectations\u00A0surrounding him\u00A0steadily increase, L.A. remains an outlet and an inspiration.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI think it\u2019s easy to not be so stressed there,\u201D Gonzalez said. \u201CSay you lose a game, like we did against New England. -- the 5-0 game [in June]. It\u2019s easy to go back to L.A. and quickly forget about it and focus on the next one. For me, somehow just being in that area, you forget about things and move on.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gonzalez, 25, was born and raised in Dallas and then spent three seasons at the University of Maryland. Southern California was relatively unfamiliar territory when he was drafted by the Galaxy in 2009. Now he draws strength from it. L.A. smooths out the rough edges. It puts things in perspective and sharpens his focus.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;By the time Gonzalez faced his own career crossroads this spring, he understood why his famous teammates opted to stay.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI definitely had options in Mexico. There were a ton of teams after the Mexico game, the [0-0 World Cup qualifier] at Azteca. There were options before that, but then that kind of boosted it even more,\u201D Gonzalez told SI.com. \u201CThere were some teams from the EPL that were interested and Germany as well. The way I was thinking about it for a while was that I\u2019ve done a lot here in MLS and maybe it was time to go.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But there were unknowns to consider.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;GONZALEZ: Player perspective on three high-profile coaches&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CThings overseas can change quickly,\u201D he said. Coaches come and go. A club\u2019s commitment can be fickle. Cultural issues might make the long\u00A0hours off the field feel like a chore.\u00A0\u201CThere are plenty of players who go over there from the U.S. and are dealing with those kind of struggles.\"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So when U.S. national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann expressed his support for a contract renewal with the Galaxy, that was all Gonzalez needed to hear. Talks escalated. L.A.\u2019s pursuit of Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard had fallen through and a Designated Player spot remained unused. Over the summer, MLS executive VP Todd Durbin, club president Chris Klein and coach Bruce Arena took the defender and his agent to lunch at Petros, a restaurant serving \"Hellenic-California cuisine\"\u00A0in Manhattan Beach.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CThey told me how important I am to the league. It made me feel really special and that I was really wanted here,\u201D Gonzalez said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WAHL: Sounders shopping Eddie Johnson&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In August, he signed an historic deal that will pay him around $1.4 million per season for three years, making Gonzalez the richest defender in MLS history by far. He\u2019ll be staying in L.A.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CEvery year in this league I feel like I\u2019ve been getting better. I\u2019ve been learning more. I\u2019ve been challenged. My decision was that I love it here. I love everyone in the organization. I love living in L.A.,\u201D Gonzalez said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI think there\u2019s definitely a correlation between being happy off the field and it translating to good play. I think you have to find that, because if you go somewhere just for the money but life outside of where you work for three hours sucks, you\u2019re going to be miserable. So staying here in L.A., I made friends there. You can go out and ride your bike whenever you want, just wear shorts and a T-shirt. The weather\u2019s great. It\u2019s always nice to visit these other cities but I get over them pretty quickly and I\u2019m always excited to get back home.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He\u2019s become a foodie. The pursuit of the perfect dish, either at a new restaurant or in his kitchen at home, has evolved into a productive way to channel his energy and ambition off the field. Having those places of\u00A0physical and emotional\u00A0refuge has helped fuel the player he\u2019s become \u2013 an MLS defender of the year, an MLS Cup MVP and a U.S. regular. And they\u2019re going to be increasingly important going forward.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CHe\u2019s definitely wired differently. A lot of times when we\u2019re home resting, he\u2019s out trying some new experience or adventure. He\u2019s hiking or out buying something new,\u201D Donovan told SI.com. \u201CHe does a lot of different things than most soccer players and he enjoys life. When it comes time to be serious and professional he is, but along the way he\u2019s enjoying himself and I think that\u2019s when he plays his best.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Next year, 2014, will be the biggest of Gonzalez\u2019 career. And it starts early. This week, in fact. L.A.\u2019s early elimination from the MLS\u00A0Cup\u00A0playoffs left Gonzalez available for selection to the U.S. squad that will play Scotland (Friday) and Austria (Nov. 19) in what Klinsmann is calling \u201CWorld Cup preparation games.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CREDITOR: Galaxy's MLS Cup reign ends at Real Salt Lake&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gonzalez has been capped only 14 times, yet he\u2019s got a very good shot of starting in Brazil\u00A0-- if he can hold off the likes of Geoff Cameron, Clarence Goodson, Michael Orozco and John Brooks. Gonzalez may hit 20 caps by the time the World Cup kicks off. Eddie Pope (23 caps in 1998) and Jimmy Conrad (16 in 2006) are the only other MLS-based central defenders with comparable international\u00A0experience who started for the U.S. at a World Cup.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The pressure to earn that role will be internal. If he does, the\u00A0pressure to perform will come from all sides.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201COmar\u2019s a confident guy. He\u2019s fearless. Being in big games, stepping into the national team, he isn\u2019t afraid of it.\u201D veteran Galaxy defender Todd Dunivant said. \u201CHe had no fear playing for us, never hit the traditional rookie wall. He doesn\u2019t think too much about the big moment. He\u2019s won MLS Cups. He\u2019s now played in big qualifiers. He\u2019s always risen to the occasion and I wouldn\u2019t suspect anything will be different at the World Cup.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gonzalez will face scrutiny on the domestic front as well. As the Galaxy look to rebound from a disappointing 2013 campaign, his performances now will be assessed through the \u201Chighest paid defender in MLS history, who else could the Galaxy have signed as a DP?\u201D lense. Mistakes will be magnified, and there may be reduced sympathy\u00A0among fans and pundits for the typical ups and downs all players experience. Gonzalez has entered uncharted waters for an American defender.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He got a taste of it this season, and Arena said he hoped Gonzalez has learned from the experience.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CHe had a few injuries. I think the national team call-ups have been challenging for him. It\u2019s hurt his continuity with our team, as well as with the national team. Those are things that happen with young players \u2026 trying to balance their club career and their international career,\u201D Arena said. \u201CI think he\u2019s settled in and he\u2019s using his experiences to try to get better as a player and a person.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WAHL: Dempsey set for loan move&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gonzalez is confident he\u2019s equipped. His athletic ability isn\u2019t in question. The 6-5 center back can\u00A0dominate a penalty area but has range that belies his size. His increasing comfort with the ball at his feet, not mention his ability to organize a defense, was evident in the September shutout of Mexico at Crew Stadium, where Gonzalez and Goodson maintained their composure under a first-half siege.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gonzalez said he was so tense during the match that his arms were cramping up once it ended. But he had the strength to chug a bottle of beer while surrounded by teammates moments after qualification was ensured. It\u2019s an iconic image from this year\u2019s Hexagonal, and a sign that Gonzalez will continue to search for fun, balance and perspective as the biggest games of his life approach.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI just have to continue what I\u2019ve been doing. I may be making more than other defenders in the league, but that kind of stuff doesn\u2019t cross my mind. I don\u2019t think I have a big head and hopefully guys don\u2019t think that about me. It\u2019s something I can\u2019t worry about. The saying I like to live by is, \u2018Don\u2019t let what you can\u2019t control consume you,\u2019\u201D Gonzalez said, adding that he\u2019s aware of criticism from the press and the public when it comes his way. \u201CThere\u2019s little things I do here and there, when I start thinking about those things, that I just try to push them out and just do something else to clear my mind.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Dunivant said that Gonzalez genuinely \u201Cfits in\u201D in L.A. He\u2019s easy going but invested in the moment. He works and plays hard, but doesn\u2019t obsess over consequences. He takes it all in.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CHe loves the big life,\u201D Dunivant said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The big life is coming, and Gonzalez said he\u2019s ready.\n\u201CYou\u2019d like to think, \u2018OK, I\u2019m turning the corner and everything\u2019s going to be great from here on out,\u201D he said. \u201CBut every day is different, so you just have to be ready to give your best and hopefully everything has a good outcome.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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