Was that the hint of a tear gathering in the corner of Landon Donovan’s eye as he bade farewell, at least for now, to the place where he sought opportunity and experience and found so much more?

Facebook campaigns have begun to keep Landon Donovan with Everton.

We can forgive Donovan for sparing a moment of emotion following what is likely to be the final home game of his loan spell with Everton, where he took less than 10 weeks to swat away years of doubt and criticism.

Whatever happens now, Donovan’s loan to the English Premier League will go down as the window of his career where all the questions were emphatically answered.

No one in England is questioning his ability to stand shoulder to shoulder with the hardened men of the hardest league. No one in the EPL is talking about any mental frailties.

No opponent, from Chelsea and Manchester United to hapless Hull City, is in any doubt about his physical attrition and work rate. No pundit or fan in the United Kingdom is wondering whether Donovan can step up when the big occasion demands it.

There is still one more game to go (at Birmingham City this Saturday) before Donovan is expected to jet back to the United States and link up with his Los Angeles Galaxy teammates. Yet it was the goodbye to the home crowd after Sunday’s 5-1 thrashing of Hull City that tugged most at the 28-year-old’s heartstrings.

From day one, he was pulled into the bosom of this club whose fans come from tough stock but adopted him as one of their own and sent him on his way with a rousing ovation. The Everton faithful saw beneath the image of a tanned Californian and spotted a character ready to fight for both their cause and his own.

Facebook campaigns to keep him, banners emblazoned with messages of support and chants of “U-S-A” are testament to how Donovan is perceived in these parts.

“I have never been in a place where you feel that sort of love,” Donovan said. “That was as good as it gets.”

Donovan has been underappreciated long enough to enjoy the accolades when they come. For the U.S. national team, in particular, he has often been asked to carry an unrealistic burden, never more so than in the 2006 World Cup when the Americans scored just one goal in open play and failed to get out of their group.

In reality, Donovan is at his best in a functioning team that believes in itself, and he found one at Everton under David Moyes, who will be as sorry to see him go as the fans. But departure is imminent, barring a work stoppage caused by a complete breakdown in negotiations between Major League Soccer and its players union over a new collective bargaining agreement.

Donovan will say the right things upon his return to MLS, but after having sipped the Toffee-flavored Kool-Aid, he doesn’t want to come back to the States. The equally warm welcome of the Galaxy locker room and the SoCal climate will surely be a poor tradeoff for a club that became his soccer soul mate.

Right now, Donovan’s future is unclear but, either way, there isn’t much downside. Everton will fight as hard as it can to land him permanently or at very least on loan again. And it may face competition from the financially muscular Chelsea, especially if Joe Cole fails to agree to a new contract and heads off to new pastures.

Whatever the outcome, Donovan can puff out his chest as he steps on to the LAX tarmac. In 10 short weeks, he found a home – and himself – and gave the most resounding of answers to those pesky questions that nagged him for so long about whether he could make it overseas.