Watch the World Cup Draw at the ESPN Zone at LA Live

The Galaxy have once again joined forces with the ESPN Zone at LA Live to bring you an exciting opportunity to play hooky and catch some soccer.

The official draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup will be held on Friday morning and you can watch all of the action live at the ESPN Zone starting at 9 a.m.

Fans wishing to attend this event are asked to RSVP to the Galaxy Sales Staff at tsintern@lagalaxy.com. The first 100 people to send in their RSVPs will receive a complementary breakfast and a guaranteed seat for the event.

Click here for more information and be sure to send in your RSVPs soon!

Happy Thanksgiving

To all the Galaxy fans out there that read and visit the blog throughout the year, we would like to wish you all a very happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday.

Additionally, it's been a wild and exciting month for everyone associated with the Galaxy and as a result, we're going to take a couple of days off to reflect on an unforgettable season and begin to get ourselves ready for the 2010 campaign.

So enjoy your weekend and we'll be back in a few days.

Landon Donovan Nominated for U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year

Landon Donovan is one of five players who have been nominated as the U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year. The MLS MVP and Honda Player of the Year, Donovan will look to complete the hat trick of awards by winning the award for the third time.

The Galaxy captain is nominated alongside Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard and Oguchi Onyewu. You can learn more about the award here while online voting for the award can be done here.

Curtain Officially Closed on 2009 Campaign

The players and coaches held their final meeting of the season yesterday at The Home Depot Center, officially closing the curtain on the 2009 campaign. Despite Sunday's loss, which still stings all of us, the guys were on good spirits as they emptied their lockers, got some last minute items signed by their teammates and generally wished everyone well. It's a day that is akin to the last day of school, where everyone parts ways knowing that they won't all be back together for a few months.

The media also made their way out to the stadium for the day to get some reaction after Sunday's loss, while also looking ahead to the 2010 season.

Here is what a few of the guys had to say.

Bruce...

Landon...

David...

Todd...

Chris...

Stefani Miglioranzi Selected in Expansion Draft; Two Players Waived

LA Galaxy midfielder Stefani Miglioranzi has been selected by the Philadelphia Union in the 2009 MLS Expansion Draft. A 2008 MLS Cup winner with the Columbus Crew, Miglioranzi appeared in 23 games for the Galaxy this season, despite missing the final month of the regular season and the playoffs with a groin injury.

The Union will be the 16th MLS team when they begin play during the 2010 MLS season.

Miglioranzi began his MLS career with the Galaxy in 2006, signing with the club late in the season and appearing in three games before being traded to Columbus prior to the start of the 2007 season. The 32-year-old spent two seasons with the Crew, playing 37 games for the Crew, tallying three goals and three assists while helping lead the club to their first-ever MLS Cup championship in 2008.

He returned to the Galaxy in January, when the club acquired him from the Crew in exchange for a fourth round pick in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft. An NCAA champion at St. John’s, Miglioranzi tied a career-high with 23 games played while starting a career-best 20 games for the Galaxy this season. He was used primarily in the center of midfield this season, playing in front of an LA defense that allowed just 31 goals this season, exactly half the number of goals that they had allowed in 2008. Miglioranzi finished tied for second on the team with four yellow cards this season and was fourth on the team with 33 fouls committed.

Additionally, midfielder Kyle Patterson and defender Julian Valentin were waived by the club today.

Join us in thanking Julian, Kyle and Stefani for all their service to the Galaxy.

Protected Player List

The LA Galaxy today announced the club’s list of protected and unprotected players for Wednesday’s MLS Expansion Draft. Philadelphia Union, Major League Soccer’s sixteenth team, will be able to select 10 players in the draft, but may not select more than one from any of the other 15 MLS clubs. The expansion draft will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 25.

Each of the 15 teams that competed in MLS during the 2009 season were allowed to protect 11 players, leaving all others unprotected. Additionally, per the rules of the expansion draft, the Galaxy were only able to leave two of their five international players unprotected, meaning that three of the club’s 11 protected players are categorized as internationals.

The Galaxy selected the following 11 players to protect:

Protected
David Beckham – Midfielder (International Player)
Gregg Berhalter – Defender
Chris Birchall – Midfielder (International Player)
Edson Buddle – Forward
A.J. DeLaGarza – Defender
Landon Donovan – Forward
Sean Franklin – Defender
Omar Gonzalez – Defender
Dema Kovalenko – Midfielder
Mike Magee – Forward
Donovan Ricketts – Goalkeeper (International Player)

Additionally, forward Tristan Bowen was automatically protected as a member of the Generation adidas program. Omar Gonzalez, the 2009 MLS Rookie of the Year, was a Generation adidas player this season but has now graduated from the program.

That means that the following 14 Galaxy players will be available for selection by Philadelphia in Wednesday’s expansion draft:

Unprotected
Todd Dunivant – Defender
Alecko Eskandarian – Forward
Alan Gordon – Forward
Leonard Griffin – Defender
Bryan Jordan – Forward
Jovan Kirovski – Forward
Chris Klein – Defender
Eddie Lewis – Midfielder
Yohance Marshall – Defender (International Player)
Stefani Miglioranzi – Midfielder
Kyle Patterson – Midfielder (International Player)
Tony Sanneh – Defender
Josh Saunders – Goalkeeper
Julian Valentin – Defender

Galaxy Fall on Penalties in MLS Cup

LA Galaxy 1, Real Salt Lake 1 (Real Salt Lake Wins 5-4 on Penalty Kicks)
MLS Cup 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Qwest Field — Seattle, Wash.

Scoring Summary:
LA – Mike Magee 2 (Landon Donovan 1, David Beckham 1) 41’
RSL – Robbie Findley (Unassisted) 64’

Penalty Kicks:
LA – David Beckham (Goal) 1-0 LA
RSL – Clint Mathis (Goal) 1-1
LA – Gregg Berhalter (Goal) 2-1 LA
RSL – Robbie Findley (Goal) 2-2
LA – Jovan Kirovski (Save) 2-2
RSL – Kyle Beckerman (Save) 2-2
LA – Landon Donovan (High) 2-2
RSL – Ned Grabavoy (Goal) 3-2 RSL
LA – Mike Magee (Goal) 3-3
RSL – Andy Williams (Save) 3-3
LA – Chris Klein (Goal) 4-3 LA
RSL – Chris Wingert (Goal) 4-4
LA – Edson Buddle (Save) 4-4
RSL – Robbie Russell (Goal) 5-4 RSL

Misconduct Summary:
RSL – Will Johnson (Yellow Card) 14’
LA – Chris Birchall (Yellow Card) 39’

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Donovan Ricketts (Josh Saunders 66’), Todd Dunivant, Gregg Berhalter, Omar Gonzalez (A.J. DeLaGarza 89’), Sean Franklin, Chris Birchall (Chris Klein 79’), Jovan Kirovski, Landon Donovan©, David Beckham, Mike Magee, Edson Buddle.

Subs Not Used: Yohance Marshall, Dema Kovalenko, Eddie Lewis, Alan Gordon.

Real Salt Lake: Nick Rimando, Robbie Russell, Nat Borchers, Jamison Olave, Chris Wingert, Kyle Beckerman©, Will Johnson (Ned Grabavoy 46’), Andy Williams, Javier Morales (Clint Mathis 22’), Robbie Findley, Yura Movsisyan (Fabian Espindola 75’).

Subs Not Used: Chris Seitz, Tony Beltran, Jean Alexandre, Pablo Campos.

Notes:
• With the loss, the Galaxy are now 2-4 all-time in MLS Cup, winning in 2002 and 2005 while losing in 1996, 1999, 2001 and now 2009.
• Tonight’s game was the fifth time in the Galaxy’s six trips to MLS Cup that the game went to extratime. LA lost in extratime in 1996 and 2001, while winning in 2002 and 2005.
• This was the second time in league history that the MLS Cup went to penalty kicks and the first time that the Galaxy have ever gone to penalty kicks in an MLS match. LA did lose on penalties in the final of the 2007 SuperLiga and the 2009 Pan-Pacific Championship.
• The Galaxy entered tonight’s game with 11 of the club’s 31 players and coaches having won an MLS Cup at some point of their career. Of those players, Landon Donovan had the most Cup victories with three, winning in 2001, 2003 and 2005.
• This was the first-ever postseason game between the Galaxy and the Real Salt Lake.
• The two teams met twice in the regular season, playing to a 2-2 draw at Rio Tinto Stadium on May 6 and RSL winning 2-0 at The Home Depot Center on June 13, snapping the Galaxy’s 10-game unbeaten streak.
• Bruce Arena made three changes to the team that beat the Houston Dynamo 2-0 in the Western Conference Championship on November 13. Todd Dunivant returns from an illness to replace A.J. DeLaGarza at left back, Chris Birchall replaces Dema Kovalenko in central midfield and Jovan Kirovski replaced Chris Klein in the midfield as well. DeLaGarza, Klein and Kovalenko all started the game on the bench.
• However, the Galaxy were without Alecko Eskandarian, Stefani Miglioranzi and Julian Valentin, who all missed the game through injury.
• Mike Magee scored his second goal of the postseason in the 41st minute to give LA a 1-0 lead.
• Landon Donovan and David Beckham each assisted on the goal. Those were the Galaxy’s first assists of the postseason as each of the first five goals LA scored in the playoffs were unassisted.
• This was the first time all season that the Galaxy did not win a game in which they scored the game’s first goal. They had been 2-0-0 in the postseason and 12-0-1 in the regular season.
• Chris Birchall was booked in the first half of tonight’s game. It was his second yellow card in two games this postseason. He collected his two yellow cards in nine regular season games.
• Former Galaxy forward Robbie Findley tied the score for Real Salt Lake in the 64th minute. That goal snapped the Galaxy’s string of 314 consecutive minutes played in the postseason without allowing a goal.
• Donovan Ricketts suffered a right hand contusion early in the second half of the game but remained on the field until the 66th minute. He made two saves before being replaced by Josh Saunders.
• This was the third time this season that Saunders entered a game for an injured Donovan Ricketts. Saunders came on midway through the first half of the 1-1 draw at Kansas City on July 25 and late in the 2-0 win at Chicago on August 19.
• Saunders made his MLS postseason debut in the game, making one save in his 54 minute on the field.
• The Galaxy’s goalkeeping substitution was the first substitution of a goalkeeper in MLS Cup history.
• All three of Real Salt Lake’s former Galaxy players played in the game, with Findley starting and Ned Grabavoy and Clint Mathis each coming off the bench. Just one of the Galaxy’s three former Real Salt Lake players entered the game, with Chris Klein replacing Chris Birchall in the 79th minute.
• A.J. DeLaGarza replaced Omar Gonzalez in the 89th minute. It was just the second time this season that the Gonzalez did not play the match in its entirety.
• Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena made his full complement of three substitutions in all 30 regular season games and all four postseason games this year.
• Landon Donovan and Robbie Findley finished as the joint top scorers in the 2009 MLS Cup Playoffs, each finishing with three goals. Donovan scored in each of the first three of the Galaxy’s postseason games.
• The attendance for today’s game was 46,011, making it the fourth biggest crowd in MLS Cup history and the largest since 2002.
• For more about today’s game, please visit www.lagalaxy.com.