Galaxy 1, D.C. United 4

LA Galaxy 1, D.C. United 4
June 29, 2008
RFK Stadium – Washington D.C.

Scoring Summary:
DC – Jaime Moreno 6 (Penalty Kick) 5’
LA – Edson Buddle 10 (Landon Donovan 7) 26’
DC – Luciano Emilio 9 (Mark Burch 2, Jaime Moreno 7) 37’
DC – Marcelo Gallardo 4 (Luciano Emilio 2, Gonzalo Martinez 1) 60’
DC – Luciano Emilio 10 (Fred 3, Marcelo Gallardo 3) 68’

Misconduct Summary:
DC – Marcelo Gallardo (Yellow Card) 42’
LA – Landon Donovan (Yellow Card) 42’
LA – Josh Tudela (Yellow Card) 51’

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Steve Cronin, Chris Klein, Sean Franklin, Abel Xavier, Mike Randolph, Alvaro Pires (Alan Gordon 64’), Ante Jazic (Joe Franchino 61’), David Beckham©, Ely Allen (Josh Tudela 46+), Edson Buddle, Landon Donovan.

Subs Not Used: Vito Higgins, Greg Vanney, Troy Roberts, Brandon McDonald.

D.C. United: Zach Wells, Brian Namoff, Devon McTavish, Gonzalo Peralta, Gonzalo Martinez, Clyde Simms, Santino Quaranta (Mark Burch 27’), Fred (Rod Dyachenko 77’), Marcelo Gallardo, Luciano Emilio, Jaime Moreno© (Ben Olsen 75’).

Subs Not Used: Jose Carvallo, Ryan Cordeiro, Quavas Kirk, Francis Doe.

Notes:
· With the loss, the Galaxy fall to 6-5-3 on the season for 21 points. They remain in first place in the Western Conference standings, two points ahead of the Houston Dynamo and Real Salt Lake.
· Ruud Gullit made no changes to his team, using the same starting XI as he used in the 3-3 draw with Columbus last weekend. It is the first time since the second and third games (on April 3 and April 13) of the year that Gullit has been able to use the same lineup in consecutive games.
· Jaime Moreno’s penalty kick goal in the 5th minute was the earliest goal allowed by the Galaxy this season, coming one minute earlier than Fabian Espindola’s goal for Real Salt Lake in the 2-2 draw with the Galaxy at Rice-Eccles Stadium on May 3.
· Edson Buddle’s goal in the 26th minute was his 10th of the season. He has now scored in four straight games and has recorded double figures in goals for the third time in his career, but the first time since 2004. He is now one goal off of tying his career-high of 11 set that same season.
· Buddle now joins Landon Donovan with double figures in goals this season. The last time that the Galaxy had two or more players each score 10 or more goals in the same season was in 2005 when Donovan scored 12 goals to lead the club, while Herculez Gomez added 11. The only other time that the Galaxy more than one player scored 10 or more goals in a season was in 1998 when Cobi Jones, Welton and Mauricio Cienfuegos all scored more than 10.
· With his assist on Buddle’s goal, Landon Donovan is now tied for the MLS in assists with seven.
· The four goals allowed by the Galaxy ties the club’s season-high for this year, which was set in the season opener against Colorado, a 4-0 Galaxy defeat.
· The attendance for tonight’s game was 35,979, meaning that all but one of the Galaxy’s road games this season have been played in front of more than 20,000 fans.
· The Galaxy are back in action on Friday, July 4, when they host the New England Revolution at The Home Depot Center. The match will kick off at 7:30 p.m. and can be seen live on FSN Prime Ticket. The match will also be available live on the radio starting at 9 a.m. on AM 570 (English) and KWKW 1330 ESPN Deportes. Fans attending the game will also have a chance to see the club’s annual Fireworks Extravaganza, which is powered by KDAY 93.5 FM.

Kick Off at RFK

We're underway at RFK on a hot and humid day that some would call sweltering.

Here's the lineup, which sees no changes from last weekend.

------------Buddle-----Donovan----------

Jazic-------Pires-------Allen---------Beckham

Randolph---Franklin---Xavier-----Klein

------------------Cronin------------------

Subs: Higgins, Roberts, Vanney, McDonald, Tudela, Franchino and Gordon.

By the way, you'll see it duing the broadcast, but the ABC crew asked five players for their picks to win today's Euro 2008 Final. David, Landon and Abel all said Spain, while Cronin and Klein went with the Germans.

Early Mornings in D.C.

We're through with our breakfast/pregame meal and the guys are now beginning their final preparations ahead of today's game. Today's meal saw one of the biggest food spreads we've seen in a while, as there were both breakfast and lunch options because of the early kick-off.

The game will kick-off at approximately 12:15 today so there will be a short pregame show before the first whistle. In advance of the pregame show, ABC's John Harkes sat down with Becks here at the hotel for a short interview. You'll also see the third member of the broadcast team, Allen Hopkins, catch up with Landon Donovan pregame to catch his thoughts on the game.

In other interview news, David sat down with Steven Goff of The Washington Post for a story that ran in today's paper. Click here to see the story.

Off to the stadium and we'll have more from there in a bit.

This Week Inside the Galaxy - Episode Nine

Another week brings another episode of This Week Inside The Galaxy.

This week, we take a look back at the draw with the Crew and look forward to Sunday's game with D.C. United.

Also, we look at the family dynamic that will be on display behind the scenes this weekend between D.C. United President Kevin Payne and his younger brother Tom Payne, the Galaxy's Assistant General Manager.

Lastly, we look back to February's Open Tryout and the emergence of Vito Higgins, who has served as the Galaxy's backup goalkeeper the last two weeks and is expected to fill that role once again on Sunday.

Check it out.

Ready for D.C.

The temperature is finally dropping here at the HDC, but the humidity has picked up. Luckily, the humidity will help the players prepare for the conditions they will be playing in on Sunday at DC, where its supposed to hit the high 80s.

With Ruud meeting up with the team in DC, we took this opportunity to catch up with assistant coach Trevor James to talk about the upcoming match. We also spoke to Landon, Abel, Edson and Mike. Here's what they had to say -

Trevor on the D.C. offense


Landon on playing D.C. United at RFK


Abel on preparing for Sunday's game


Edson on playing with Landon and David


Mike on the home crowd at RFK


Don't forget to catch the game against D.C. on ABC at 9 a.m. - right before the Euro 2008 Final. And, if you still haven't gotten your soccer fix, head over to the HDC and watch the Rios take on Ventura County Fusion at 5 p.m.

It's Julian's World and We're Just Living In It

For those of you who have not seen it yet, Julian Valentin, our rookie defender from Wake Forest, is writing a weekly blog for the American Soccer Reader, which you can check out by following this link.

He is joined by fellow Demon Deacon Wells Thompson of New England and the Red Bulls' Hunter Freeman on the site, so be sure to check it out and tell him what you think.

In other news, the grounds crew has been doing routine maintenance on our usual training field this week, meaning that Ruud has been putting the squad through their paces on one of the U.S. Soccer fields.

Also, Paul Bravo left the country earlier this week for a scouting excursion to Africa. He'll be sending us an email in the next day or so, which we will be sure to pass along to you, giving you some inside info into what he's seen.

Ruud also headed out the other day, flying back to Holland for a quick trip to see his family and tend to some personal business. The club was off today and will have one session on Thursday before flying to D.C. on Friday, meaning that Cobi and Trevor will be in charge of one session before rejoining the club on the East Coast.

As always, more to come.

Edson Up For Award Again

Another week, another Goal of the Week nomination for Edson Buddle.

Check it out here and be sure to vote for Edson.

This Week Inside the Galaxy - Episode Eight

Take a look at the latest episode of This Week Inside the Galaxy, as we look back at the trip to San Jose and the visit of Edgar Davids to Galaxyland.

LA Galaxy 3, Columbus Crew 3

LA Galaxy 3, Columbus Crew 3
June 21, 2008
The Home Depot Center – Carson, Calif.

Scoring Summary:
LA – Landon Donovan 10 (Unassisted) 4’
LA – Edson Buddle 9 (Mike Randolph 3) 47’
CLB – Brad Evans 2 (Unassisted) 67’
CLB – Guillermo Barros Schelotto 2 (Penalty Kick) 71’
LA – Landon Donovan 11 (Penalty Kick) 83’
CLB – Steven Lenhart 1 (Unassisted) 88’

Misconduct Summary:
LA – Sean Franklin (Yellow Card) 25’
LA – Abel Xavier (Yellow Card) 87’

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Steve Cronin, Chris Klein, Sean Franklin, Abel Xavier, Mike Randolph, David Beckham©, Ely Allen, Alvaro Pires, Ante Jazic (Alan Gordon 67’), Edson Buddle, Landon Donovan.

Subs Not Used: Vito Higgins, Greg Vanney, Troy Roberts, Joe Franchino, Brandon McDonald, Josh Tudela.

Columbus Crew: William Hesmer, Frankie Hejduk©, Chad Marshall, Danny O’Rourke, Ryan Junge, Brad Evans, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Brian Carroll, Nicholas Hernandez (Steven Lenhart 76’), Robbie Rogers, Alejandro Moreno.

Subs Not Used: Andy Gruenebaum, Andy Iro, Jed Zayner, Duncan Oughton, Emmanuel Ekpo, Jason Garey.

Notes:
· With the tie, the Galaxy move to 6-4-3 on the season for 21 points, keeping them alone atop the Western Conference standings, two points ahead of second place Real Salt Lake, who defeated New England 2-1 earlier in the night.
· Ruud Gullit made just one change to his team which defeated San Jose a week ago, bringing Landon Donovan back into the squad in place of Josh Tudela.
· Landon Donovan scored his league-best 10th goal of the season in the 4th minute of play. Donovan rejoined the team after spending last week with the U.S. National Team, where he scored his 36th career goal for National Team in an 8-0 win over Barbados.
· Donovan added his 11th of the year with a penalty kick in the 83rd minute. Donovan is now 3-for-3 from the penalty spot this season.
· Donovan is now just one goal shy of tying his single season record of 12 goals, which he first set as a member of the San Jose Earthquakes in 2003 and matched in 2005 and 2006 with the Galaxy.
· Edson Buddle scored for his third consecutive game, tallying his 9th goal of the year in the 47th minute. Buddle, who now second in MLS with nine goals on the year, is on the verge of scoring 10 or more goals in a season for the third time in his career and the first time since 2004. Buddle set a career-high for goals that year when he scored 11 for the Columbus Crew.
· Mike Randolph assisted on Buddle’s goal, giving him assists in back-to-back games. The 22-year old now has a career-high three assists on the season.
· Today’s game was the third straight in which the Galaxy had scored inside the opening 10 minutes. The last time that LA had scored before the 10 minute mark in three consecutive games was in the 1997 season. On September 4, 1997, Martin Machon scored in the 9th minute of a 3-1 home loss against the MetroStars (now New York Red Bulls). Three days later, Mauricio Cienfuegos scored in the 6th minute of a 6-1 win over the Tampa Bay Mutiny at the Rose Bowl. Then on September 10, Chris Armas scored in the 6th minute to give the Galaxy a 2-1 win over Colorado.
· The Crew scored three goals in the second half to earn a share of the points. Of the 24 goals allowed by the Galaxy this season, 16 have been scored in the second half.
· The Crew’s Guillermo Barros Schelotto scored from the penalty spot in the 71st minute. It was the first penalty allowed by the Galaxy since the season opening defeat to Colorado.
· The attendance for tonight’s game was 27,000, making it the fourth sellout of the season for the Galaxy in eight home games.
· The Galaxy are back in action on Sunday, June 29, when they travel to the Nation’s capital to take on D.C. United at RFK Stadium. The game will kick off at 9 a.m. and can be seen live on ABC. The match will also be available live on the radio starting at 9 a.m. on AM 570 (English) and KWKW 1330 ESPN Deportes.

Ten for LD

Once again the Galaxy have gotten off to a quick start, this time Landon scored in the 4th minute getting on the end of a gaffe by the Columbus goalkeeper Will Hesmer.

Here is the starting lineup that Ruud put out tonight...

----------Donovan------Buddle----------------

Jazic-------Allen--------Pires----------Beckham

Randolph---Franklin----Xavier------------Klein

---------------------Cronin--------------------

Preparing for Columbus

It was another scorcher here at the HDC as the team prepares to take on the Columbus Crew, who sits in second place in the Eastern Conference. Despite the heat, Ruud, David, Landon and Edson took some time to speak to the media before heading back inside after training. Here's what they had to say.

Ruud on the pressure of being in first place and last weekend's clean sheet...


David on having Landon back and the team scoring goals without Landon...


Landon on teammates scoring goals and the Galaxy being in first place...


Edson on scoring and playing an Eastern Conference team...

A Night of Soccer & Music

Join the Galaxy for "A Night of Soccer & Music" when they take on the Columbus Crew on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. "A Night of Soccer & Music" will include concerts by Cyclone artist Baby Bash, Prima J and a host of other top, up and coming bands. As if a bunch of free concerts weren't enough, the first 5,000 fans will receive the first of two Collector Series Soccer Balls, presented by Sierra Mist.

Early comers will be able to enjoy the pregame concert. The concert starts at 6 p.m. with Korean performers Sikboy, Eddie and Jin, as well as fusion, jazz band, Simple Touch playing on the stage which is located on the North Concourse. Prima J (pictured below), who will be promoting their latest single Corazon, willl be on the stage for a show starting at 6:40 before heading down to field level, where they will join the team on the field to sing the National Anthem.

If you still haven't gotten your music fix, Lyricks will perform on the field during half-time, with MC Kel, La Verdad and Lil J and Baby Bash closing out the night postgame on the North stage.

Back Again

After taking a few days off to recharge the batteries, the blog is back with a series of notes from the start of the week.

• As we announced on Monday, Josh Wicks underwent surgery on Monday to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. He is expected to miss 4-6 weeks.


• Landon will be back with us for Saturday's game against the Crew as he was released for National Team camp after scoring his 36th international goal in the 8-0 win over Barbados on Sunday.


• Carlos Ruiz will be back in Los Angeles, but not with the Galaxy, as Guatemala will take on St. Lucia at the Coliseum. Ruiz scored four goals to become the all-time leading scorer in Guatemala history as Los Chapines won the first leg 6-0 in Guatemala City.


• Edson Buddle was named the Player of the Week for the second time this year after scoring his hat trick against the Quakes. His first goal of the night was nominated for the Sierra Mist Goal of the Week award, but it appears that Clyde Simms will be the runaway winner of that award. Of the 12 Player of the Week awards given out this year, Galaxy players have won six of them.


• With Wicks out, the Galaxy have brought in Brian Perk from the Rios Under-20s to train with the club.


• Clint Mathis remains with the Galaxy, spending time training with the squad and also working out on the side with Chris Neville.


• Lastly, there was a pitbull loose on the field the last two days as former Dutch international Edgar Davids, a friend of Ruud's, has come out to train with the club while spending some of his offseason in Los Angeles. The Ajax midfielder played 74 times for Holland, playing at the European Championships in 1996, 2000 and 2004, as well as the 1998 World Cup in France.

Amazing Edson

LA Galaxy 3, San Jose Earthquakes 0
June 14, 2008
McAfee Coliseum – Oakland, Calif.

Scoring Summary:
LA – Edson Buddle 6 (Josh Tudela 1, David Beckham 6) 6’
LA – Edson Buddle 7 (Ante Jazic 1, Ely Allen 1) 63’
LA – Edson Buddle 8 (Mike Randolph 2, Ante Jazic 2) 68’

Misconduct Summary:
SJ – John Cunliffe (Yellow Card) 39’
SJ – Adam Smarte (Yellow Card) 45’
LA – Ely Allen (Yellow Card) 59’
LA – Alvaro Pires (Yellow Card) 62’
SJ – Ryan Johnson (Yellow Card) 63’

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Steve Cronin, Mike Randolph, Sean Franklin, Abel Xavier, Chris Klein, Alvaro Pires, Ante Jazic, Josh Tudela, David Beckham© (Troy Roberts 88’), Ely Allen, Edson Buddle.

Subs Not Used: Vito Higgins, Michael Gavin, Julian Valentin, Brandon McDonald, Greg Vanney, Bryan Jordan.

San Jose Earthquakes: Joe Cannon, Adam Smarte (Joe Vide 56’), Ryan Cochrane (Jamil Roberts 74’), Jason Hernandez, Eric Denton, Kelly Gray, Ramiro Corrales©, Ned Grabavoy, Ronnie O’Brien, John Cunliffe (Shea Salinas 51’), Ryan Johnson.
.
Subs Not Used: Dan Benton, Matt Hatzke, Amir Lowery, Gavin Glinton.

Notes:
· With the win, the Galaxy improve to 6-4-2 on the season for 20 points, moving them to first place in the Western Conference, three points ahead of second place Houston, who entered the night in a tie for first place with the Galaxy.
· Galaxy head coach Ruud Gullit made two changes to the side that beat Colorado 3-2 last weekend. Ante Jazic and fellow midfielder Josh Tudela were each named in the starting lineup, replacing Alan Gordon, who was suspended for the game, and Peter Vagenas, who missed out with a right quad injury.
· Jazic made his first start of the season, playing the full 90 minutes on the left side of midfield.
· Edson Buddle scored three times on the night, giving him eight on the season. That places him in second place in MLS, two behind the league leader, the Galaxy’s Landon Donovan who has nine goals in nine games so far this season.
· The hat trick was the fourth of Buddle’s career and his second of the season, with both coming on the road. Buddle also had three goals in the 5-1 win at FC Dallas.
· Buddle now has two hat tricks in a Galaxy uniform, leaving him two behind Cobi Jones, now a Galaxy assistant coach, for the most in club history. Jones had four during his 12-year Galaxy career.
· Prior to Buddle, only Eduardo Hurtado and Cobi Jones had scored more than one hat trick in a single season for the Galaxy.
· Buddle’s second goal was the 60th of his MLS career.
· Steve Cronin tallied his second career shutout in the game. Cronin’s only other clean sheet, which was the first of his career, came in the Galaxy’s home opener this season when he made two saves in a 2-0 win over San Jose.
· Ante Jazic had the first two assists of his MLS career in the game, assisting on both the second and third goals of the game for LA.
· Ely Allen also collected the first assist of his career in the game, helping to set up the Galaxy’s second goal.
· Josh Tudela also picked up his first assist of the season in the game, setting up the game’s opening goal.
· Today’s game was the second straight in which the Galaxy had scored inside the opening 10 minutes. The last time that LA had scored before the 10 minute mark in consecutive games was in the 1999 season. On August 14, 1999, Ezra Hendrickson scored in the 7th minute of a 2-0 home win over Dallas. One week later, Carlos Hermosillo scored in the eighth minute of a 4-1 win over the MetroStars (now New York Red Bulls) at the Rose Bowl.
· David Beckham exited the game in the 88th minute and was replaced by Troy Roberts. It was the first time this season that Beckham did not play the full 90 minutes in a game in which he appeared.
· Troy Roberts was opposed on the field by his brother Jamil Roberts, an Earthquakes rookie, marking the first time that the two had faced one another in MLS play.
· The attendance for tonight’s game is 39,872. That is the largest single-game attendance in San Jose history.
· The Galaxy are back in action on Saturday, June 21 when they host former head coach Sigi Schmid and the Columbus at The Home Depot Center. The game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. can be seen live on FSN Prime Ticket.The match will also be available live on the radio starting at 7:30 on both AM 570 (English) and ESPN Deportes Radio 1330 KWKW (Spanish).

Underway in San Jose

All technical difficulties have been sorted out and we're underway here at McAfee Coliseum.

Just like last weekend against Colorado, the good guys have taken an early lead with Edson Buddle getting his sixth goal of the year in the sixth minute. A Beckham cross from the right picked out Tudela, whose cushioned header set Buddle up perfectly to volley the ball home with his right foot, giving LA an early lead.

For those who have not already seen it on TV, here is the Galaxy lineup.

-------------Allen---------Buddle------------

Jazic--------Pires---------Tudela------Beckham

Randolph---Franklin------Xavier----------Klein

----------------------Cronin-------------------

Subs: Higgins, Gavin, Roberts, Valentin, Vanney, McDonald, Jordan.

Check back postgame.

The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round

The buses are making their way North with a few hundred Galaxy supporters, but the squad is already here and getting prepared for tonight's match.

• Josh Wicks remained in LA with a left knee injury that he picked up in training last week, meaning that Vito Higgins will be the backup to Steve Cronin for the first time this season.
• Higgins actually joined the club here in San Jose directly from Spokane, Washington where he was collecting some of his personal belongings to transport back to LA. He flew to Washington in the middle of last week and was excused from training on Thursday and Friday before Wicks' injury, the extent of which will be known next week.
• In addition to the standard dessert fares with our team dinner last night (Fruit salad, sliced fruit, rice pudding, etc.) there was a very tasty strawberry cake in honor of Ceci's birthday. Our assistant athletic trainer, Ceci turned 25 yesterday and making it all that more special, she is a Northern California native who will have more than a fair share of friends and family in attendance tonight.

Lastly, here is some audio from yesterday from David and Ruud during their media session after training.

David in three parts







Ruud in three parts

Sounds from Training

As the team prepares to travel to San Jose later today, we were able to catch up with Ruud and a few players to see how they feel about this weekend's game and the rivalry between the Galaxy and the Quakes. Here's what they had to say...

Ruud on playing San Jose


Steve on the Galaxy/Earthquakes rivalry


Edson on what he needs to do on Saturday


Mike talks about playing against his former coach

This Week Inside the Galaxy - Episode VII

In This Week Inside the Galaxy, midfielder Ely Allen takes us back to recap his first MLS goal and the win over the Rapids, plus we join Ruud as he roots on the Netherlands to an impressive 3-0 victory over the Italy in Euro 2008 action. We also have a quick preview of Saturday’s game against the Earthquakes as Steve and Troy touch on their NoCal connections. So, sit back, relax and enjoy the latest TWIG.

Day Off Doldrums

No news out of Galaxy Central today, but as some people say, no news is good news.

To tide you over, here is a copy of David's visit to Jimmy Kimmel Live! Game Night that aired on ABC last night.



Thanks to Youtube user MyHubTV for posting that.

Also, be sure to head over to Albertsons supermarket at Sepulveda and Main St. in Carson on Thursday at 3pm for the 'Dash for the Kids'. Cronin, Buddle, Gordon and Julian will take on four Los Angeles Avengers players in a Supermarket race to raise money for the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank.

Click here to see a recap of last year's event which raised nearly $40,000.

And if you want to see what we've been showing the guys to practice for the race, watch the video below.

Fun in the Sun

Following a morning gym session, the guys were glad to get out on the field and into the sunlight this afternoon. The coaching staff put the players through an intense session ahead of Saturday's match against San Jose, but the guys did not seem to mind, knowing full well that Wednesday will be a day off for everyone. They'll be back in on Thursday and Friday as they aim for their second straight win.

Chad Borak, Tristan Bowen, Michael Stephens and Max Young from the Galaxy Rios were all at training today, as was Clint Mathis who we told you last week was in town.

Peter Vagenas did not train today as he got treatment on his injured right quad while Greg Vanney was absent today with an illness and Abel Xavier was given the afternoon off after the morning's gym session.

Here is a series of shots from this afternoon session:

Congratulations Landon

For those of you watching the U.S. National Team take the field against Argentina right now, you are seeing a great site as Landon Donovan leads out the Red, White and Blue as the team's captain. Today's appearance will make LD the 11th centurion in U.S. history and the fourth youngest player ever to reach that mark.

Seeing Landon on the field also lets us know that has recovered from his groin injury and ready to go.

He will be back in LA next week, either with the National Team for Sunday's Qualifier against Barbados at The Home Depot Center, or with the Galaxy. Bob Bradley will announce his roster next week and we can say that we would be quite surprised to see the all-time leading scorer in U.S. history not included in the squad for that important game.

Galaxy Move Back Into First Place; Defeat Rapids 3-2

LA Galaxy 3, Colorado Rapids 2
June 7, 2008
The Home Depot Center – Carson, Calif.

Scoring Summary:
LA – Alvaro Pires 1 (Unassisted) 4’
LA – Edson Buddle 5 (Abel Xavier 1) 32’
LA – Ely Allen 1 (Peter Vagenas 1, Edson Buddle 1) 50’
COL – Colin Clark 2 (Omar Cummings 2) 73’
COL – Herculez Gomez 1 (Unassisted) 82’

Misconduct Summary:
COL – Christian Gomez (Yellow Card) 33’
LA – Alan Gordon (Red Card) 44’
COL – Facundo Erpen (Red Card) 44’
COL – Preston Burpo (Yellow Card) 56’

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Steve Cronin, Mike Randolph, Sean Franklin, Abel Xavier, Chris Klein, Alvaro Pires, Peter Vagenas (Ante Jazic 68’), Ely Allen (Joe Franchino 65’), David Beckham©, Alan Gordon (Sent Off 44’), Edson Buddle (Carlos Ruiz 59’).

Subs Not Used: Josh Wicks, Troy Roberts, Greg Vanney, Brandon McDonald.

Colorado Rapids: Preston Burpo, Ugo Ihemelu, Facundo Erpen© (Sent Off 44’), Rafael Gomes (Herculez Gomez 77’), Jordan Harvey, Nick LaBrocca, Colin Clark, Jacob Peterson (Mehdi Ballouchy 46’), Christian Gomez, Conor Casey (Omar Cummings 60’), Tom McManus
.
Subs Not Used: Chris Sharpe, Kosuke Kimura, Stephen Keel, Terry Cooke.
Notes:
· With the win, the Galaxy improve to 5-4-2 on the season for 17 points, moving them to first place in the Western Conference, two points ahead of second place Colorado who entered the night in first place with 15 points.
· Tonight’s game was played on the five-year anniversary of the first-ever game at The Home Depot Center. On that day, June 7, 2003, Carlos Ruiz scored twice in a 2-0 Galaxy win over the Rapids.
· By scoring three goals tonight, the Galaxy have now scored two or more goals in six of their seven home games in MLS play this season.
· Alvaro Pires’ goal in the 4th minute was the first of his MLS career. He signed with the Galaxy in March and has appeared in seven regular season games so far this season, starting all seven.
· Pires’ goal is the earliest that the Galaxy have scored this season, breaking the past mark for the earliest goal from David Beckham, who scored in the 9th minute of the 2-0 win over San Jose on April 3. The last time that the Galaxy scored a goal earlier than the 4th minute was on June17, 2007 when Nate Jaqua scored in the 3rd minute of a 3-2 win over Real Salt Lake.
· Edson Buddle’s goal in the 32nd minute was his fifth of the season, with all five coming in the last four league games. Buddle joined the Galaxy in June 2007 and tallied five goals in 16 games for LA last season. His career high for goals in a year is 11, set in 2004 as a member of the Columbus Crew.
· Ely Allen scored the first goal of his MLS career in the 50th minute of the game. He is the seventh different Galaxy player to score this season, with the club also scoring once via an own goal.
· Allen and Pires each scored the first goal of their MLS careers in this game. The last time that two different Galaxy players scored their first career MLS goals in the same game was on April 3, 2004 when Andreas Herzog and Jovan Kirovski each scored in a 3-2 win over New England.
· The Galaxy’s Alan Gordon and Facundo Erpen of Colorado were each sent off just before halftime, forcing both sides to play the entire second half with 10 men.
· Ely Allen, David Beckham, Peter Vagenas and Abel Xavier were all back in the starting lineup after missing the 2-0 loss to Toronto FC last weekend.
· Edson Buddle left the game in the 59th minute with a left thigh contusion and was replaced by Carlos Ruiz.
· Peter Vagenas left the game in 68th minute with a right quad injury. He was replaced by Ante Jazic who was making his first appearance of the 2008 MLS season after undergoing major ankle surgery in December.
· The Galaxy are back in action on Saturday, June 14 when they travel north to San Jose for the first time this season to take on the Earthquakes. The match will be played at McAfee Coliseum in Oakland with kickoff slated for 7 p.m. Fox Soccer Channel will have all of the action live, starting with the MLS Saturday pregame show at 6:30 p.m. The match will also be available live on the radio starting at 7 p.m. on both AM 570 (English) and ESPN Deportes Radio 1330 KWKW (Spanish).

Taking on the Rapids

A number of changes to the Galaxy squad tonight as Ruud tries to spark the team after being kept off the scoreboard in each of the last two games and in both games against the Rapids this season.

Here is his squad...

---------------Buddle---Gordon------------

Allen---------Pires------Vagenas-----Beckham

Randolph-----Franklin---Xavier------Klein

--------------------Cronin------------------

Subs: Wicks, Jazic, Roberts, Vanney, Franchino, McDonald, Ruiz.

Also of note, the Galaxy have allowed Bryan Jordan to remain on loan with the the Portland Timbers for tonight's game against the Vancouver Whitecaps. As we told you the other day, Jordan played 90 minutes on Thursday as the Timbers played to a 0-0 draw with the Minnesota Thunder.

Also, viewers on TV might notice that the Rapids shorts don't exactly match with their burgandy shirts and socks. That's because the good folks at Frontier Airlines accidently lost one of Colorado's equipment bags on their flight to LA, meaning that they are having to play in navy blue shorts that they had to borrow from Chivas USA. Thankfully, all of our gear is present and accounted for, thus we can once again be seen in our all whites.

This Week Inside the Galaxy - Episode VI

In This Week Inside the Galaxy, defender Mike Randolph takes us back to recap the TFC match with Ruud, to relive all of our goals from May, and find out who we're picking to win the NBA Finals. We also have a quick preview of tonight's match as we look for our first win against Colorado in 2008. So, sit back, relax and enjoy the latest TWIG.

Let's Go Rollin'

Mark Rogondino chimes in with his thoughts on this weekend's matchup.

Check it out here.

Getting Ready for Colorado

As the team gears up to play Colorado tomorrow, Beckham, Ruud and Steve spoke to the media. Here's what they had to say...

Becks talks about injuring his wrist and Colorado


Ruud talks about Colorado, the offense against Toronto and Ruiz


Steve on the previous games against Colorado

Catching Up with Bryan Jordan

Before playing a full 90 minutes for the Portland Timbers in their 0-0 tie to the Minnesota Thunder yesterday, Bryan Jordan took some time out to catch up with fans. Click here to see what he had to say.

Coming Home

Ante and Carlos are both on their way back to Los Angeles after representing their National Teams on Wednesday. They are scheduled to be at training on Friday and should be available for selection on Saturday night against the Rapids.

Jazic was on the bench but did not play in Canada’s 3-2 loss to Brazil last weekend but he was able to make his first appearance in a National Team uniform in nearly a year, coming off the bench at halftime of Canada’s 2-2 draw with Panama in Florida on Wednesday. Jazic replaced Marcel de Jong on the left side of midfield and scored the game-tying goal in the 82nd minute of that game. The goal was Jazic’s first in 23 career appearances for his country.

Ruiz joined up with the rest of the Guatemalan National Team in Miami on Sunday before they flew to Rancagua, Chile for a friendly against Chile on Wednesday night. Ruiz started that match, making his first appearance for Los Chapines since the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup in June, but could not stop Chile from claiming a 2-0 win. Ruiz played 90 minutes in the match but was unable to add to his career total of 35 goals, leaving him tied with Juan Carlos Plata for the most goals in Guatemalan National Team history.

Thursday Training

The sun was back out this afternoon at The Home Depot Center as the Galaxy were back at work preparing for Saturday's game against the Rapids.

We'll have photos and audio a bit later, but to tide you over until then, here are a few notes from today's session.

• Landon did not train with the club today as he was on a plane to New York where he will re-join the rest of the U.S. National Team for their game against Argentina on Sunday. Donovan is still stuck on 99 caps but will hope to become the 11th centurion in U.S. history. He missed the losses to England and Spain because of tightness in his right groin, but will hope to have recovered enough to play a role in Sunday's friendly, which is the final tune-up for the U.S. before World Cup Qualifying begins on June 15 against Barbados.
• David Beckham trained while wearing a soft, Velcro brace on his right wrist. Beckham has been diagnosed with a sprained right wrist, which he told the media first felt sore a few weeks ago. But have no fear, David is fully fit and ready to go on Saturday against the Rapids.
• Charles Alamo, who has been out since undergoing knee surgery in February, was working out on the side with Chris Neville. Alamo, who just began running a few weeks ago, participated in some drills that worked on his lateral movement, while also taking part in some small diving drills, the first drills that he has done with his goalkeeping gloves on since his injury.
• Mauricio Cienfuegos was back out at the training field, this time with his family, as he enjoys some time off during the Salvadoran offseason, Joining him was another former Galaxy player, Clint Mathis. Mathis, who recently helped Ergotelis F.C. avoid relegation in the Greek Super League, is enjoying some time off after completion of his inaugural season in Greece. Alexi Lalas and Paul Bravo were also in attendance at today's practice, making for four former MLS All-Stars watching the proceedings.
• While those four were watching today's session, three members of the Galaxy Rios U20s participated in the session. Kyle Nakazawa was back after training on Tuesday, and he was joined by midfielder Rafael Garcia (Cal State Northridge) and defender Everett Pitts (UC Irvine). Those three players helped the Rios earn a 5-1 win over the LA Legends, a local PDL side, on Wednesday evening. Nakazawa scored once, as did Tristan Bowen, Travis Bowen, David Estrada and Camillo Rojas as the Rios won handily over the Legends reserve team. They are back in action on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. in Lancaster when they take on the Lancaster Rattlers.

Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs are Back

In response to a tremendous amount of fan feedback, the Galaxy have worked with Levy Restaurants, the official catering company of The Home Depot Center, to bring back Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs!

Starting with this Saturday's game, Galaxy fans will be able to purchase their favorite greasy snack for just $5.50 at both the Northwest and Southwest Grills at The Home Depot Center.

So make sure that you grab one this weekend and let us know what you think.

BJ Heading North

Just back from Under-23 National Team duty last week, Bryan Jordan will have the chance to get a game under his belt on Thursday night as he has been loaned to the Portland Timbers of the USL First Division. Jordan played for the Timbers last season and will be available to their head coach Gavin Wilkinson on Thursday night when they host the Minnesota Thunder on Thursday night at PGE Park.

The 22-year old Pasadena native has appeared in one regular season game, playing the final seven minutes of the 2-1 loss to New York, and four Reserve Division games, where he leads the Galaxy with three goals.

Jordan is expected to be back in LA in time for Saturday's game against the Rapids.

The Boys Are Back

After an off day on Monday, the boys were back in for a pair of training sessions on Tuesday. As is typically the case on Tuesday, the morning session was completed in the gym, with Chris Neville and the gang from Athletes Performance dividing the team up into four groups and running them through four separate stations that work on the players' strength and conditioning. Once everyone was done with those four stations, all the players gathered for a short sprinting session that closed out the morning workout.

After a quick lunch, the guys headed outside for a short training session that consisted mostly of a full sided, 11v11 game.

Other notes from the session...

• Charles Alamo and Landon Donovan worked out on the side with Armando Rivas, as Alamo continues to rehab from knee surgery and Donovan is coming back from a tight right groin that ruled him out of the loss to Toronto, as well as the National Team's loss in England and Wednesday's game against Spain.


• Also watching the session from the sidelines was former Galaxy legend Mauricio Cienfuegos, who was catching up with a number of friends after practice. Cien is currently coaching Nejapa F.C. in El Salvador and he helped to save them from relegation this past season. (Below you can see Cien with the Galaxy's equipment manager, Raul Vargas)

• A week after suffering a concussion, Ely Allen was back on the field. He spent time playing both on the left wing and in the center of midfield.


• Kyle Nakazawa and Michael Stephens, each of whom play for the Galaxy Rios Under-20s and UCLA, trained with the club today.

Speaking of the Rios U-20s, they will have a scrimmage against the LA Legends on Wednesday evening (5:30 p.m. at The Home Depot Center) before returning to league play on Sunday afternoon in Lancaster.

Lastly, the Reserve Division game between the Galaxy and Rapids that was originally scheduled for Sunday has been postponed and is scheduled to be made up in October when Colorado returns to Los Angeles.

Landon to Stay in LA

As a result of the tight groin that forced him to miss the National Team's 2-0 loss to England on Wednesday and the Galaxy's 2-0 loss to Toronto on Saturday, Landon Donovan will remain in Los Angeles this week to receive treatment, rather than join up with the rest of the National Team in Spain where they play on Wednesday.


Donovan's status will be determined later in the week by the Galaxy's medical staff. The Galaxy host the Rapids on Saturday at The Home Depot Center, while the USA take on Argentina on Sunday in New York.