Editor’s note: Language in this story may be offensive to some readers.



There’s a water fountain at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina, a Most Dependable Fountains model SD440 that lost its factory luster long ago. After two decades under the Carolina sun, the silvery sheen on this unassuming bubbler has dulled a bit, its age marked by patches of rust. You can push the button on its side, but don’t expect to be refreshed — the fountain now runs dry.



The SD440 may be forlorn, but it certainly isn’t forgotten. In the spring of 2002, at the very moment that a 20-year-old Landon Donovan leaned in to let its water ripple over his lips, the fountain took its part in perhaps the most memorable photograph ever taken in the history of U.S. men’s soccer. It’s a photograph — you know the one — that remains a running joke among U.S. soccer fans, part of a larger collection of photos that graced the New York Times...