Monday, February 16, 2009

Ready for Pan-Pacific

The build up to the Pan-Pacific Championship officially kicked off this afternoon at The Home Depot Center with the introductory press conference. All four teams were in attendance ahead of Wednesday's tournament openers between Suwon Samsung Bluewings (Korea) and Shandong Luneng (China) at 5:30 p.m. Then, at 8 p.m., the Galaxy take on one of Japan's top clubs, Oita Trinita.You can read more about the Galaxy's focus on the tournament in the words of Larry Morgan here. Or watch the video of the event here.



And don't forget to watch all the action from the 2009 PPC live on Fox Soccer Channel starting at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday night as FSC broadcasts the first of two five hour blocks of coverage.

In other team news, a new but familiar face has joined the club in training, as Josh Saunders has joined the group. Saunders played in three games last season, starting late season games against Columbus, Colorado and Houston, after joining the Galaxy on loan from Miami FC. He joins Steve Cronin, Donovan Ricketts and Josh Wicks in camp. Miguel Benitez is still training with the team and is expected to all season after joining the league's goalkeeper pool.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Brilliant thanks for anykind of non-English guy updates!

specially on the rosters and trainings.

Ben

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the pics; but, is there any updates about training & practices this week? I know yesterday was raining... but, I was expecting at least some form of training updates. Anybody else that have been cut from the roster. I'm glad to hear that Bruce & Dave invited Josh Saunders back for vying for back-up goal-keeper spot. Goal-Keepers are players that have to compete, focus, train, prove, and out-perform most every other position to maintain roster-stay. I hope like crazy that the rest of all the players are preparing mentally, physically, and tactically for the PPC games. I hoep they are not going to walk onto the field distracted, lost, apprehensive, and unsure. Each of the players must be determined, strong, fully-ready, and very capable of performing. It's going to be a test of their sharpness, endurance, creativity, patience, and collective energy. Marking, shifting, runs, counter-runs, crosses and passes are going to be critical!

Anonymous said...

Any chance of talking the Korean coach Bum Kum Cha out of retirement? He is my favorite Korean player of all time with a wonderful career in the Bubdesliga. Tremendous striker. He must be in his late 40's early 50's now.

Anonymous said...

what's the Galaxy roster for the Pan Pacific Championship?

What numbers does Saunders and Benitez have ?

Anonymous said...

Thanks Eddie for being the team captain and spokesperson for the LA Galaxy for this coming set of games. I hope that the players understand and accept the challenges and tests that lie before them. I hope they are able to endure, play well, play strong, and finish with confidence and tactical strength.
I believe Oita under Pericles is going to be a challenging team and group to beat / break-down. The mental adn physical, and game-readiness is going to be very key for our LA Galaxy. They have to be in the competitive zone and start with determination, posession, control, and direction. Good luck to the LA Galaxy during these games.

Anonymous said...

Love to see Miguel Angel Benitez stay in L.A. as a back up goalie.

Robbie Rogers, JoJo, and Benitez were tremendous players in CAL South Soccer.

State Champs in premier League, and dominating in their High Schools.

Love to see these locals in L.A. rather than in Columbus or ???

Jamie L.