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.