Olympic Memories

With the Beijing Olympics starting on Friday, we caught up with a few players and staff who have participated in an Olympic Games to learn about their experience and their thoughts on the 2008 edition of the summer games.

First up are Peter and Landon. Both were a part of the 2000 U.S. Olympic team which played in Syndey. In those games, Peter played in all six matches, scoring three goals. Landon, who at 18 years old was the youngest player on the squad, came off the bench for Rapids foward Conor Casey against Kuwait to score the final goal in a 3-1 win, helping the team reach the quarterfinals. The 2000 Olympics was the best showing ever for the U.S. as the team made it all the way to the semifinals before losing 3-1 to Spain, with Pete scoring the lone U.S. goal. It should also be noted that besides Landon and Pete, two other former Galaxy players, Chris Albright and Danny Califf, scored goals during the tournament, making Josh Wolff the only non-Galaxy player to score. Of course, the U.S. squad was led by legendary University of Portland head coach Clive Charles, who passed away in 2003.

Peter...


Landon...


After those two, we tracked down 1992 Barcelona Olympic teammates and Galaxy coaches Ian Feuer and Cobi Jones. While Ian didn't get to see any playing time in Barcelona, as he was behind Brad Friedal in the pecking order, Cobi played in all three matches.

Ian...


Cobi...


Finally, we spoke to Klein. Although he never participated in an Olympic games, we just wanted to see what he's looking forward to seeing come Friday.
Klein

Tuesday Roundup

The players were back in training this morning after they (and the blog staff) received a day off on Monday.

However, we did receive a bit of bad news on Monday as both Charles Alamo and Michael Gavin were ruled out for extended periods through injury. In the second half of Sunday's reserve game, Alamo suffered a partial tear of the ACL in his left knee, the same knee he injured in Hawaii back in February, and will be placed on the Season Ending Injury List.

Gavin was also injured in that game, suffering a right foot fracture that is expected to keep him on the sidelines for at least two months. He underwent surgery on Tuesday and is expected to be out for at least six weeks.

On a brighter note, Bryan Jordan scored one and set up another last weekend as the Portland Timbers played to a 2-2 draw with the Minnesota Thunder in USL First Division action. As a result of his performance, Jordan was named to the First Division Team of the Week. Fans wanting to follow BJ's progress can watch him in action on Thursday night at 8 p.m. (PT).

Galaxy Fall to San Jose 3-2

LA Galaxy 2, San Jose Earthquakes 3
August 3, 2008
McAfee Coliseum – Oakland, Calif.

Scoring Summary:
SJ – Arturo Alvarez 4 (Scott Sealy 1, Darren Huckerby 1) 8’
SJ – Darren Huckerby 2 (Eric Denton 1) 40’
LA – Landon Donovan 13 (David Beckham 8) 42’
LA – Edson Buddle 12 (Unassisted) 76’
SJ – Ryan Cochrane 1 (Unassisted) 90’

Misconduct Summary:
SJ – Ryan Cochrane (Yellow Card) 46’
LA – Landon Donovan (Yellow Card) 73’

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Steve Cronin, Chris Klein (Carlos Ruiz 76’), Greg Vanney, Sean Franklin, Ante Jazic, Peter Vagenas, Ely Allen (Mike Randolph 46’), David Beckham©, Landon Donovan, Edson Buddle, Alan Gordon.

Subs Not Used: Josh Wicks, Eduardo Dominguez, Alvaro Pires, Mike Munoz.

FC Dallas: Joe Cannon, Jason Hernandez, Ryan Cochrane, Nick Garcia©, Eric Denton, Francisco Lima, Ramiro Corrales, Ronnie O’Brien (Ryan Johnson 82’), Arturo Alvarez, Darren Huckerby, Scott Sealy (Jovan Kirovski 92+).

Subs Not Used: Michael Gustavson, James Riley, Kelly Gray, Shea Salinas, John Cunliffe.

Notes:
· With the loss, the Galaxy are now 6-8-5 on the season leaving them with 23 points. They are now in fourth place in the Western Conference, four points behind first place Real Salt Lake, three points behind the Houston Dynamo and two points behind FC Dallas.
· Ruud Gullit made three changes to his starting from last weekend’s 4-0 loss at FC Dallas. Sean Franklin was brought in to central defense in place of Eduardo Dominguez, while Ely Allen was added to the midfield in place of Alvaro Pires and Alan Gordon started up front instead of Carlos Ruiz.
· Brandon McDonald was originally in the starting lineup in central midfield, but was a late scratch because of a recurrence of a foot problem that had kept him out of the lineup for the past month and a half. He was replaced in the starting lineup by Peter Vagenas.
· Midfielder Mike Munoz was in the 18-man squad for the first time this season after being signed by the club on Friday. He did not play in the match.
· Landon Donovan’s 42nd minute goal was his 13th of the season, setting a new career-high. Donovan is now tied for the MLS lead in goals with 13, equal to the number scored by FC Dallas forward Kenny Cooper who scored twice this afternoon in Toronto.
· Buddle’s goal in the 76th minute was his 12th of the season, setting a new career-high.
· David Beckham’s assist on Donovan’s goal was his eighth of the season, good for the most on the Galaxy and the second most in MLS.
· The Galaxy are now winless in their last seven games, going 0-4-3 over the span with losses to D.C. United, FC Dallas, New England and San Jose, as well as draws with Chivas USA, Columbus and New York. They have allowed two or more goals in six of those seven games. This ties the mark for the fourth longest winless streak in club history.
· Two of the three players who scored for the Earthquakes in today's game were not on the San Jose roster the last time these two teams played on June 14, a 3-0 Galaxy win.
· The attendance for today’s game was 26,071.
· After the game, the entire Galaxy squad will bus to Santa Clara University for a Reserve Division match against the Earthquakes. The two sides played a Reserve Division game in April, with San Jose winning 2-1.
· The Galaxy are back in action on Thursday, August 14, when they take on Chivas USA in the third and final installment of the Honda SuperClasico at The Home Depot Center. The match will kick off at 8 p.m. (PT) and can be seen live on ESPN2. The match will also be available live on the radio in English on 1150 AM and in Spanish on KWKW 1330 ESPN Deportes.

The Lineups Are In [UPDATED]

We're ready to go here in San Jose as the Galaxy will look to snap a six-game winless streak and move to within one point of first place Real Salt Lake.

Here is the team that Ruud will put out there...

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

------------------------Donovan-------------------

Allen----------------------------------------Beckham

------------------------Vagenas--------------------

Jazic--------------Vanney-------Franklin-------Klein

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

Subs: Wicks, Dominguez, Randolph, Pires, Vagenas, Munoz, Ruiz.

Gordo is brought in for Carlos while Ely and Brandon are back in midfield, with Pete and Alavro going to the bench. Lastly, Sean Franklin is back in the starting lineup after playing 45 minutes last weekend, replacing Eduardo Dominguez. [UPDATED] Brandon has had to be removed from the lineup becuase of a recurrance of his foot injury, so he will be replaced by Peter.

Also, Mike Munoz, who was signed on Friday afternoon, is in the 18-man squad for the first time.
Enjoy the match.

Matchday Has Arrived

Good morning from San Jose as we look to complete a three-game sweep of the Earthquakes this season. For those that don't remember, Landon and David scored in a 2-0 win at the HDC back in April before Edson Buddle scored his second hat trick of the year, grabbing all three goals in a 3-0 win in Oakland on June 14.

As we had said earlier, the whole squad made the short trip north for today's games with the exception of Joe Franchino and Troy Roberts who have been ruled out through injury.

Here's a video looking at the match...



It'll be a long day for the players (and staff) with an 8:30 a.m. pregame meal followed by a 9:30 a.m. departure for Oakland's McAfee Coliseum where today's game will again be played. Immediately after the game, the whole squad will get back on the bus and head to Santa Clara where the reserves will play, before getting back on the bus and heading to the airport for tonight's flight home.

As long and arduous as this will be for most of us, spare a thought for Raul Vargas, our equipment manager extraordinaire.

Not only was he at the stadium at 6 a.m. this morning to begin setting the locker room up, but he was in Santa Clara last night preparing that locker room in advance of the reserve game. Suffice to say, I'm fairly certain that we'll see Raul fast asleep on the flight home - and who could blame him.

On the Way to San Jose

Well, not quite yet, but we're getting close.

The Galaxy has one more day of training before we take an afternoon flight up to No-Cal to face our longtime rivals, the Earthquakes. We were able to catch up with Landon, David and Ruud after practice to see what they had to say about what's been going on around the HDC, playing San Jose and the team's performance in Dallas.

That laughter you heard in the background of David's audio is Eduardo, Fish and Pires playing a juggling game, that is equal parts juggling and the ability to listen.

It starts with the players saying how many times they will juggle before passing it on to someone else. If you aren't able to control the ball, or juggle it too few or too many times, your the loser and the others get to give a quick, but painful slap on the back of the leg. If you don't understand what we're talking about, be sure to tune in to Galaxy Deportivo on Saturday at 6 p.m. on KWHY-22.

Here is Eduardo speaking with the Deportivo crew after his game.


Here is Ruud talking with the media, as well as what he had to say...




Here is Landon...



And lastly, here is what David had to say before he went it to watch some of the X Games, which as you can see from the photo below, are at The HDC this weekend...




If you want to see action like what you see above, come on out to The HDC this weekend for X Games 14, just make sure that you're home on time to catch Sunday afternoon's game against the Earthquakes!

Mike Munoz Added to the Roster; Carlos Receives Green Card

The Galaxy made a roster move this afternoon when they signed midfielder Mike Munoz to a developmental contract. Munoz, who played one game for Chivas USA in 2005, has played for the Galaxy Reserves this season and impressed the coaching staff with his play.

To make room on the roster for Mike, goalkeeper Vito Higgins has been waived. Vito has missed the last couple of weeks with a right foot fracture and will be returning to his alma mater, Gonzaga University, to do some coaching. We of course wish Vito all the best going forward.

Lastly, six years after making his Galaxy debut, Carlos Ruiz has received his Green Card and will no longer be counted as an international player. It was a long process, but a pair of recent visits to Guatemala helped to put the final touches on his paperwork. Congrats to Carlos!

We'll have more on this and a training recap shortly.