It was Donovan’s Day. In Sunday’s game, Landon Donovan was the dominating presence, his three goals giving the U.S. an impressive 3–1 win over Ecuador.

Hat tricks don’t come that often in international soccer, but even among those rare occasions this was really something special. All three goals shone with sheer soccer skill, each showing off a different facet of Donovan’s many talents.

The game was only 39 seconds old when Donovan struck for the first time. The Ecuadorean goalkeeper, Rorys Aragon, having moved forward to play the ball, decided not to and simply watched as his defenders made a mess of clearing it, then continued to watch, failing to recover his position. This was a fatal lack of attention on his part, for the ball fell to Donovan on the edge of the penalty area.

A scoring opportunity that needed quickness and calmness. The chance was not set up for Donovan — the ball came suddenly, a gift from an opponent’s error, but an unexpected gift. Donovan, already so much more alert than anyone else, did it all in a split second: impeccable control with his right foot, then a searing left-footed half-volley past the stranded Aragon.

Donovan’s speed of thought was again in evidence with his goal at the 66th minute — this time combined with sheer physical speed. Anticipating a pass from Brian Ching, Donovan was already moving at full speed when the ball arrived, and he simply outpaced his defender on a breakaway sprint of about 40 yards. A sprint with the ball at his feet, mind you — a highspeed dribble in which he kept the ball under control, ran it as close to goalkeeper Aragon as he safely could before smoothly rolling it past him into the net.

Barely a minute later, Donovan completed his destruction of Ecuador with a spectacular 22-yard drive into the top corner of the goal. Just one swing of his leg was all he needed as he raced forward to meet a ball that had been perfectly laid into his path by DaMarcus Beasley. The strike was stunning, unstoppable — a ferocious shot that seemed to be bulging the net almost as soon as it exploded off Donovan’s right foot.

Donovan’s Day for sure. Coach Bob Bradley had made him captain for the game — his 87th appearance for the U.S. — and Donovan responded superbly with a mature performance of leadership by example. The realization that the best of Donovan may be yet to come causes a moment’s disbelief. But this poised young man is still only 25, two years shy of what most observers would consider the prime age for a soccer player.

His career has been anything but conventional. Twice he has tried his luck in Europe — with Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen — and twice he has returned home. He has shrugged off the accusations of being a failure and has made his name in MLS, becoming not only the league’s best American player, but its best player, period. Later this summer he will be joined at the Los Angeles Galaxy, by the league’s most expensive player, David Beckham.

Donovan has also proved himself to be the most exciting MLS player. Because there is a bravura to his play that is uncommon among American players. This is not ornamental flashiness, but rather a stylishness in pulling off unusual or daring plays. The flair has a Latino look to it, and that is logical because much of Donovan’s youth soccer was played in Southern California on a team made up largely of Latino players.

On Sunday, Donovan was joined in midfield by Benny Feilhaber — a 22-year-old starting his first game for the U.S. (he has two previous appearances as a substitute). Feilhaber had the misfortune to make an impressive debut on a day when he was totally overshadowed by Donovan’s brilliance. Exactly as Donovan did, Feilhaber is attempting to start his pro career in Germany, with Hamburger SV. And like Donovan, Feilhaber has a touch of Latino flair in his background. He was born in Brazil, coming to America as a boy in 1985: “I played in Brazil until I was 6. It’s the most carefree soccer in the whole world. You kind of just play, do what you want with the ball … It’s a real technical kind of soccer.”

For sure, Feilhaber is a technically gifted player, but not too much attacking freedom was seen from him on Sunday for he also seems to share with Donovan a confusion about his true soccer role. No one can quite work out whether Donovan is a better forward or midfielder. In Feilhaber’s case, his superior technical skills surely indicate a more elaborate role than that of defensive midfielder.

That was the position Feilhaber played for the U.S. in the 2005 under-20 World Cup, where he attracted the attention of the Hamburg scouts. But it was a role that he invested with an attacking zest.

On Sunday, Feilhaber played a primarily defensive role for Bradley. He made no forward surges and did little dribbling. But he also managed to give the palpable impression that inside his defensive midfielder role there is an attacking player striving to be seen.

There is a lot of promise here, acknowledged by Bradley’s faith in starting him, but Feilhaber is unlikely to hold down a place as a defensive midfielder. Pablo Mastroeni and Ricardo Clark — both out of Sunday’s game with injuries — are more suited to that role.

An end to the positional confusion could see Donovan used as an out-and-out forward, with Feilhaber as a playmaking midfielder behind him. This scheme assumes that Bradley wants to use a playmaker, which is by no means certain. The role is not widely admired among current coaches who prefer to see the ball played quickly through midfield, or even more quickly by the direct route from back to front, cutting out the midfield altogether.

Modern tactics seem designed to exclude creative players like Feilhaber. It would be a great shame to see so much talent wither away in the restricted world of the holding midfielder.

pgardner@nysun.com