Despite the fact that the Los Angeles Galaxy missed the playoffs this year, their season didn't end with their regular season finale against the Chicago Fire.
The Galaxy played four exhibition matches in four countries during the late fall and into the early portion of the winter. The team is currently getting a much deserved rest, but they will be returning to training in February to prepare for the inaugural Pan-Pacific Championship.
The new tournament will be played in Hawaii from Feb. 20-23 and will feature the Galaxy and Houston Dynamo of MLS, Gamba Osaka of Japan's J-League, and a yet to be determined team from the Australian A-League.
At first glance, the Galaxy's inclusion could be considered surprising, given the club hasn't made the MLS Cup Playoffs for the last two seasons. However, there are very few clubs in the world at the moment who have the drawing power that the Galaxy do -- due primarily to the presence of David Beckham -- and it's something the Galaxy are planning to take full advantage of.
"The attractiveness of having the LA Galaxy be a part of anything is obvious. We understand and completely recognize that there is not just a desire, but in certain aspects, a need for us to be involved for the good of the league," said Galaxy general manager Alexi Lalas. "We accept that to a certain extent. We're not looking at the tournament in Hawaii as a chance to sit on the beach and drink pina coladas."
Since winning the MLS Cup in 2005, the Galaxy finished out of the postseason in both 2006 and 2007, the first two years in club history the team failed to reach the playoffs. In their drive to again reach the pinnacle in MLS, the Pan-Pacific tournament will be part of what they hope will be perfect preparation for the upcoming season. The tournament in Hawaii will provide a springboard for the Galaxy, who already had plans to spend a portion of their preseason in Asia.
"(The Pan-Pacific tournament) affords us the ability to have a stopover because our preseason entails us going to Asia," said Lalas. "We will go to Hawaii, play in the tournament and then continue on to Asia for a tour. It works out OK to break (the travel) up."
It remains to be seen if all the preseason frequent-flyer miles will have any impact on the Galaxy's position at the end of the year. But one thing that can't be denied is that the Pan-Pacific Championship will provide as good, if not better, preseason competition for the Galaxy than almost any other team in the league will get.
