In a novel four-team tournament, the Los Angeles Galaxy and FC Dallas will begin play Thursday night in the Puerto Rico Challenge, a doubleheader where the MLS squads will face two USL First Division teams, the host Puerto Rico Islanders and the Rochester Raging Rhinos.
The tournament marks the first time MLS teams have visited the island of Puerto Rico, a U.S. commonwealth. The Galaxy open against the Rhinos at 5 p.m. (ET) at Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium in Bayamón, on the outskirts of the capital of San Juan. The Puerto Rico Islanders follow with a match against FC Dallas at 8 p.m. On Saturday, the matchups will reverse, as the Galaxy face the hosts and Dallas plays against Rochester.
Los Angeles and Dallas both come in on the final stretch leading into the MLS 2007 season. There is great interest in the series in Puerto Rico, where the Islanders have made the USL First Division (second tier) matches a local attraction, drawing up to 8-10,000 fans to their more important matches. Also, a second Puerto Rican USL franchise in Ponce is expected to begin operations next year.
"There's no clear favorite, but we will try and win both matches," said Galaxy coach Frank Yallop. Some Galaxy players have nagging injuries and they relaxed on the beach after a training session.
"We expect a tough game. As the coach said to us, it's fine for us to enjoy the local scenery and see what this place is about. But in the end we're here for the business of getting ready for the season," said veteran Galaxy midfielder Peter Vagenas. The Galaxy open their MLS season on April 8 against reigning MLS champions Houston Dynamo.
"The field is fine, maybe a little spongy," said L.A. defender Chris Albright. He added that while on national team duty, his experience on Caribbean fields has been on "rock hard" pitches in Jamaica and Trinidad. Puerto Rico, however, is a much wetter climate, and boasts the only tropical rainforest on U.S. territory.
For many players it is their first visit to the island, where many South American expatriates reside. New Colombian signing Juan Carlos Toja will rejoin FC Dallas in Puerto Rico after training with the club in Brazil, but both clubs are missing key players due to U.S. national team duty (Landon Donovan of the Galaxy, for example).
"This is a bet on our future," said Andy Guillemard, president of the Islanders' board of directors. "Some people think our team will get trounced by the MLS teams, but we want to raise the profile of the island in the soccer world, so we had to do this. And in the future, we want Puerto Rico to be a site for preseason training in the same way Florida is for baseball."
"I like how we're coming along, and the Brazilian trip really helped," said FC Dallas striker and Guatemalan international Carlos Ruiz.
Some players do have "local" ties. Dallas goalkeeper and Trinidad & Tobago international Shaka Hislop played a CONCACAF youth tournament on the island.
"That was U-12, so I don't remember much. But it definitely feels like the Caribbean to me," said the former West Ham United and Newcastle United goalkeeper, who joined Dallas after last summer's FIFA World Cup.
New Galaxy goalie Joe Cannon said his brother John played professional baseball with a team in Puerto Rico, and he practiced his Spanish with the locals as he danced to a salsa beat coming out from the team's lunch at a Ruby Tuesday's restaurant in San Juan. He'll be hearing more at Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium, where a local band strikes up the music before the matches and after every goal.
Keyvan Heydari is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
