Robbie Rogers, who grew up in Rolling Hills Estates before finishing high school in Orange County, has given his first interview in his adopted England since coming out as gay a few weeks ago.

Published the day after Galaxy star Landon Donovan gave an honest and at times raw account of his search for mental health during his recent sabatical from the sport, the interview recounts Rogers’ struggles to come to terms with his sexuality given his public personna as a athlete and the rampant homophobia seen in men’s soccer.

I’ve drawn parallels between Rogers and Donovan before and do so again here in part because Rogers said in the interview he might seek to train with the Galaxy. Hopefully coach Bruce Arena and the supportive likes of Donovan will make that happen because if Rogers has any hopes of re-starting his soccer career his home here in Southern California may well be the place to do it.

Rogers has received criticism in some quarters for retiring from the game — although it’s unclear whether he has stepped away for good — but Donovan’s cry for more acceptance of mental health issues Wednesday resonates even more this morning in light of  Rogers’ interview.