In their first game of the season, the Los Angeles Galaxy were smacked with a trio of nasty blows.
First, the altitude was against the club all night long. Secondly, players questioned the officiating. Lastly -- and possibly the most damaging -- striker Carlos Ruiz sprained ligaments in his right knee and is out for an undetermined amount of time.
Behind the three setbacks, a fired-up Colorado Rapids side routed the Galaxy 4-0 before a record crowd of 18,713 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.
"We had troubles with the altitude," Galaxy coach Ruud Gullit said. "Our players they were tired, all the time they were one step behind because they were used to it."
The stadium sits one mile above sea level, signs at the stadium bragged. And from the start of the match its effects were evident. Galaxy players were lagging behind their counterparts while the squad had trouble keeping its shape.
The Galaxy's preseason featured games in Hawaii, Korea, China and Hong Kong, but in none of those games did the Galaxy appear as tired as Saturday's match, David Beckham said.
"Overall we probably weren't our sharpest. Obviously that had something to do with the altitude and that was probably the most tired the team has looked even in the preseason," the Galaxy skipper said. "We've got to bounce back and the only way we do that is to win our game on Thursday (against San Jose) and hopefully we can do that."
The Rapids opened the scoring just 10 minutes after Terry Cooke slammed in a rebound from 15 yards out. The Galaxy escaped the half without surrendering any more goals but the club could not shake the cobwebs after halftime.
"The first half was bad," Galaxy forward Landon Donovan said. "We didn't play well and we had some good life in the second half and wanted to come out and at least give it a go. The penalty kind of took it out of us."
With the Rapids still hanging on to the 1-0 lead and the Galaxy pushing forward and looking dangerous, the match changed at the sound of a whistle. Abel Xavier was called for a foul on Rapids forward Omar Cummings on the edge of the six-yard box.
Galaxy players surrounded referee Abbey Okulaja and questioned his call after the match.
"Probably the most interesting PK call I've seen in my time anyway in MLS," Galaxy defender Greg Vanney said. "It gives them a second goal and then we go to three in the back."
Vanney was asked if Okulaja explained the infraction.
"I don't think he could explain it," he responded. "It's safest if they just don't say anything and that's the route he took."
After the spot kick, which Christian Gomez easily converted, the Rapids hit the throttle as the Galaxy threw numbers forward in search of goals.
The strategy included sending on Troy Roberts for Michael Gavin in the back and moving right back Chris Klein to the midfield but perhaps it was not the right time to do that, Donovan said.
"At that point we get a little helter skelter," he said. "Maybe we should have just taken it easy and still try to be smart and maybe not get forward but at that point we just threw caution to the wind."
Still, Gullit, who declined to comment on the officiating, said the team tried in vain to keep their cool.
"The turning point was of course the penalty kick," he said. "That caused a little bit of chaos ... and we lost our head a little bit."
Afterward, Cummings and Colin Clark took turns beating Galaxy 'keeper Steve Cronin as the Rapids punctuated their rout. Xavier was sent off in the 89th minute after protesting a foul. Less than a minute later, Rapids second-half substitute Ciaran O'Brien was sent off for taking out Ruiz, who was carried off on a stretcher with a sprained knee.
Still, the game got away from the Galaxy before it even started.
"You could see that they were not at the same level. You think to yourself 'How is it possible?' and you think maybe (the altitude) is not a problem because maybe you don't feel it," Gullit said. "But you could see that there was something there and you could see that people had a problem with it. And if you see that all the time they are one step ahead that's no coincidence."
