The guys from both sides were in good spirits following the game with plaudits goinng to a number of players both expected (David and Ronaldinho) and unexpected (BJ and Milan newcomer Thiago Silva) and everyone in between.
Here is what some of the guys had to say...
LA GALAXY QUOTE SHEET
SUNDAY, JULY 19, 2009 – LA GALAXY 2, AC MILAN 2
LA GALAXY HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA
On the level of the friendly game:
It was worthwhile game. We got something out of it. It is another game against an opponent that is in a number of positions of higher quality than us. It was a great experience for players like Omar Gonzalez and A.J. DeLaGarza. These types of the games are highlights in their young careers. For those players, this game was a positive living.
On David Beckham’s performance:
He certainly needs to continue to work on terms of his fitness. But, he is a guy with a big heart; he gives us a great effort. And the game was good for David to get him into the team, to reintroduce him to our plans.
On playing Barcelona in the near future:
I surely expect the same performance against Barcelona. Barcelona is going to be difficult; we are going to have a little bit of more rest. The game will happen when we are more advanced in our season, so it will be a tough match-up.
LA GALAXY FORWARD LANDON DONOVAN
On the team’s performance:
We are happy with how we played. We’re happy with the performance of the guys that normally don’t get to play a lot. I think this was good for everyone.
LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER DAVID BECKHAM
On the match:
The instructions the manager gave was simple to enjoy ourselves, but to compete because when teams like Milan and other teams at that level come over, you know you want to compete with them and not look silly. And we didn’t look silly. We played some great soccer at times, and so did they. It was a good workout for them.
On the fans reaction:
I’m not disappointed because it doesn’t affect me. At the end of the day, you can’t be liked by everybody, and a lot of people were wondering what the reaction would be here, and they were right. At the end of the day, it didn’t affect me as a player. I think the majority of fans were incredible. There was only one or two that weren’t. The cheers in the end silenced the boos—that was nice.
LA GALAXY FORWARD ALAN GORDON
On his goal:
It’s always good to score goals. It doesn’t matter who against. This one just happens to be AC Milan. It’s something I can take to the grave. I’m going to enjoy this one.
LA GALAXY DEFENDER TODD DUNIVANT
On the match:
I thought it was a good game for the fans. Four goals is always good. That’s what you want with a friendly. A lot of guys got minutes. It was a good showing for us.
On the team’s performance:
I think the team’s gotten confidence. We’ve gotten four wins in a row in league play. We are getting better and better as the season goes on. That’s been the plan. We will continue to build and move forward. It’s not going to be easy. I think you are seeing a better Galaxy team. A tougher team to play against. Slowly the momentum is building and the fans are starting to sense that. We thought that for quite a while when we were getting all those draws. A lot of people were scratching their head. It could have gone either way. We knew we were going in the right direction. We still have a long way to go, but so far so good.
AC MILAN HEAD COACH LEONARDO
On the game:
I think it was a very exciting match. It was a game between different teams; Galaxy is in the middle of the season and their players are in a different physical condition than us. We are in the beginning of our season; we are still in the preparation phase.
On David Beckham’s performance:
[David] did really well. His long passes are incredible; the precision he has is something very special that not many players can do like him. The way he plays is very important for Galaxy. Every ball begins with him, he makes his teammates play.
AC MILAN MIDFIELDER RONALDINHO
On the game:
It was a good game. It was a great opportunity for us to work on our physical condition. I am very happy for this game, and at the same time was really joyful. And, I am thankful for the fans’ kindness.
About his physical condition:
I feel really good. I am a little tired because we haven’t played much in the preseason. But as I said before, I feel good because of the fans’ support.
About Major League Soccer’s level:
Soccer has been growing in the United States. And, I certainly believe that many players will come to this league, so the league will definitely continue to grow.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Postmatch Reaction
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13 comments:
Best part of tonight was Gordon scoring hopefully we can trade him now, how about a straight trade for.........oh i know Kyle Beckerman. SLC could do with proven MLS goal scorer and we need a scrappy holding midfielder.
im sorry this has to be said...yes david beckham is a huge international player, but he is not the only important player on the galaxy! Every time the sports caster spoke it was about Beckham and how everybody thinks that the fans were okay with beckham after a while they are also wrong because i heard a lot more booing then i did cheering! this is the only game i have seen him actually try and play good and he has his reasons...but the whole thing the Galaxy does not revolve around beckham, the mls doesnt revolve around beckham, and they both can function with or without him! get over himself and focus on the outstanding players of the entire LA Galaxy team, not David Beckham and the Galaxy cuz the last time i checked AEG owned the galaxy not beckham!
Well How were LA Galaxy before Beckham arrived? NOBODY'S. You guys should realize that your are more than lucky to have a player like David he is an amazing professional and the best player you have and as for Landon well i have seen him play many times when he was in Europe and he is not a good player at all and he knows it. I thought the banners the fans had attacking David were Pretty lame I would like to see your fans try that at an old firm game HA it would be the end of you. I think over all you cant blame a player like David for wanting to still play for England and to do it he has to be playing in a quality league the MLS is a very bad league and the standard of football is sometimes laughable. You should respect David as a player because he should be playing for a great team not a team that wouldn't be good enough for the Premiership.
A lot of fans are wrong for what they did. Let it go on record the Angel City Brigade is here for OUR TEAM and not for one player only. What they did on the other side of the stadium is wrong! We are all so proud of you in the ACB. You played with all you got and did LA good. We're confident we can take on the giant Barca. Thank you so much Galaxy!
ACB
IM A SEASON TICKET HOLDER IN THE RIOT SQUAD AND BECKS PLAYED A GREAT GAME. I CLAPPED FOR HIM A CHEERED HIM. I FEEL THAT HE NEEDS TO SHOW RESPECT TO THE FANS BY POSSIBLY APOLOGIZING FOR WHAT HE SAID ABOUT THE TEAM. HE MAY HAVE SAID SORRY TO THE PLAYERS ON THE TEAM, BUT THE FANS STILL RESENT HIM. HE IS A WONDERFUL PLAYER AND I EMBRACE HIM NOT BECAUSE HE IS GOOD, BUT BECAUSE HE IS APART OF THE GALAXY, THE TEAM I LOVE. SO BECKS IF YOU SEE THIS, SAY SORRY TO YOUR FANS!!
Anonymous "but the whole thing the Galaxy does not revolve around beckham,"
Well like it or not, yes it does, and I happen to like. As for the boos just ignorant people jumping on the bandwagon. Were you in the stadium? The boos were way in the minority after he took over the game. The Galaxy is getting coverage,the MLS is getting coverage and I hate to say it Donovan is getting coverage. My brother in England who is a Rugby snob actually knows who LD is and what is going on at the Galaxy. Any publicity is good publicity. We now get to see class and leadership at the Galaxy for the rest of the season not to mention eye candy! It's all good! Get over it.
The guys that booed Beckham were pathetic. Here is a world class footballer who has deigned to play with a bunch of journeymen (Donovan Excepted), He has a right to try to keep his world cup and international hopes alive by playing with a real team when he can. You should be pleased to be able to glimpse such class, and the class of such players as he routinely mixes with. As for the tough guy who wanted a fight. Let him try it with Becks' minders.
Did you guys see the fan who jumped the fence in the riot squad just at halftime after Beckham challenged him to come down? That was awesome! (Yeah sure becks the fans boos didn't affect you, B/S) I'm glad Beckham got the boos even though he's my favorite player. Sometime a player needs to be reminded that supporters respect loyalty, heart, and performance on the field more then pretty faces, underwear ads, and shirt sales. I hope he keeps getting booed until he realizes what he has done wrong and that how he has treated the Galaxy and the MLS is shamefull. I hope this lights a fire in him to play his heart out for this team....its the only way he'll re-earn the respect of the true Galaxy faithful.
Beckerman for Gordon, are you mad?! Beckerman is shining for our National team!!! Get real.
I think the comment of "I hope this lights a fire in him to play his heart out for this team..." is UNNECESSARY actually.
You see, even without the booing, Beckham will ALWAYS plays hard no matter what, especially now, coz he has the ENGLAND SQUAD PLACE to think about. Of do you guys forget about that?
If anything, he will still play hard no matter what, coz he is a WINNER, and a COMPETITIVE player/athlete..so the warnings about him not working his ass off is actually unnecessary.
@lajburns:
Yeah, we might have been NOBODIES (not nobodys), but at least we had a WINNING RECORD.
Landon's not a good player? Did you see him in the Confeds Cup? Donovan can run circles around Becks and Becks knows it...
I would have expected something more clever (and with better spelling) from some eurotrash snob. Go back to watching the EPL where YOUR best players aren't even English.
laburns, before Beckham came here, the Galaxy won two MLS Cups, two U.S. Open Cups (the American equivalent of the FA Cup) and one CONCACAF Champions' Cup. Not exactly "nobodies." Besides, the Galaxy had players like Mauricio Cienfuegos, Robin Fraser, Kevin Hartman, Cobi Jones, Chris Armas (all too briefly), Paul Caligiuri and Carlos Ruiz (the league's best goal scorer for his first two years before he went South).
Beckham did not make this team. This team had at least a semblance of tradition before he ever got here -- and before the AEG suits screwed things up by trying to be a "Super Club" without the requisite resources.
Max in Chicago, you need to move to L.A. bro. We need to weed out these shrieking celebrity-hungry attendees with fans who demand loyalty to the club from players.
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