The LA Galaxy will look to get back their winning ways this weekend when they host the Colorado Rapids at The Home Depot Center. This match begins at 7:30 p.m. and will mark the five-year anniversary of the opening of The Home Depot Center on June 7, 2003. The match will mark Faith and Family Night, with a trio of exciting up and coming bands playing the Galaxy stage, before and after the game, as well as at halftime. For those who cannot make it out to Carson for the match, the game will be shown live on FSN West and the MLS Direct Kick package, starting with 'Galaxy Live' at 7 p.m. Fans can also listen to the game live on the radio with Joe Tutino having the call in English on AM 570 starting at 7:30 p.m. and Rolando Gonzalez and Celso Gaspar bringing you all the action in Spanish on ESPN Deportes Radio 1330 AM KWKW, beginning at 7 p.m.
Galaxy Injury Report
OUT - Charles Alamo (R-Knee Surgery)
DOUBTFUL - None
QUESTIONABLE - Ely Allen (Concussion), Landon Donovan (R-Groin)
PROBABLE - None
Allen and Donovan will each be monitored throughout the week while Alamo continues on the second phase of his rehabilitation process and has begun jogging and plyometrics after undergoing knee surgery in February.
The Week That Was ...
LA Galaxy
Saturday, May 31; Galaxy 0 - Toronto FC 2
A pair of second half goals undid the Galaxy as they fell to Toronto FC 2-0 at BMO Field in Toronto. Julius James and Jeff Cunningham scored for the hosts who, with the win, swept the season series from the Galaxy.
Galaxy Team Notes
A THIRD OF THE WAY THERE: Following Saturday's loss to Toronto FC, the Galaxy are now a third of the way through the 2008 MLS season. With a 4-4-2 record, the Galaxy have 14 points and are in a three-way tie for second place in the Western Conference, one point behind the leaders, Colorado. A year ago at this time, the Galaxy were just 2-5-3 for 9 points, leaving them in a tie for last place in the West with Real Salt Lake.
This is the fourth time in MLS history that the league has played a 30-game season and the Galaxy's record after ten games in each of those years is...
2007: 2-5-3, 9 points<br>
2004: 5-2-3, 18 points<br>
2003: 2-4-4, 10 points</center>
Every other season has been scheduled for either 28 or 32 games.
FULL TIME PLAYERS: With David Beckham missing the 2-0 loss to Toronto and Landon Donovan coming off late in the win over Kansas City and missing Saturday's match, just three Galaxy players have been on the field for all 900 minutes of the season. Goalkeeper Steve Cronin and defenders Chris Klein and Greg Vanney have each been on the field for every second of every Galaxy game this season.
For Cronin, he has already surpassed his career-highs in games played and minutes played in a season after having appeared in just six MLS games prior to the start of the 2008 campaign.
However, neither Klein nor Vanney will be able to surpass their career-high for games or minutes played this season, as each have eclipsed the 30 games and 2,700 minutes mark that is scheduled for this season.
Klein, who has started an MLS record 95 straight games, played in 31 games in 2005, 32 in 2006 and 32 last year, splitting time between Real Salt Lake and Los Angeles. His 32 games and 2,880 minutes played last year were both MLS highs for the season, with no other players appearing in more than 30 games or playing more than 2,700 minutes.
In 1998 and 1999 Vanney played in 31 of the Galaxy's 32 games, playing a career-high 2,790 minutes in during the 1999 campaign
DONOVAN TO MISS SPAIN FRIENDLY: On Monday it was announced that Galaxy forward Landon Donovan would miss the U.S. National Team's friendly against Spain on Wednesday in Santander because of tightness in his right groin. The 26-year old leads MLS in both goals (nine) and assists (six) on the season and is on pace to eclipse his career-highs in both categories. He has 99 caps during his international career, leaving him one shy of becoming the 11th player in U.S. history to reach the 100 cap plateau.
Donovan is currently listed as questionable on the Galaxy's injury report and his status will be determined later in the week by the Galaxy's medical staff. The Galaxy host the Rapids on Saturday at The Home Depot Center, while the USA take on Argentina on Sunday in New York.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATE: While Donovan was unable to play against England last Wednesday, but David Beckham was available and played the opening 45 minutes in that game, setting up John Terry's game-winning goal in the 38th minute before being replaced by David Bentley. Four days later, Beckham was again starting for England, this time as their captain in a friendly against Trinidad and Tobago in Port of Spain. Beckham again played the opening 45 minutes in that game before being replaced by Bentley.
Ante Jazic was with the Canadian National Team where he was an unused substitute in their 3-2 loss to Brazil on Saturday in Seattle. He will remain with the National Team for their friendly against Panama on Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale.
After playing the final 23 minutes of the loss to Toronto on Saturday, Carlos Ruiz joined the Guatemalan National Team for their friendly against Chile in Santiago, Chile on Wednesday. The 28-year old forward has 35 career goals for his country, leaving him tied for the most goals in Guatemalan National Team history. He last played for his country at the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup in July.
All three players are scheduled to be back in Los Angeles this week and available to Ruud Gullit for this weekend's game against the Rapids.
CAPTAIN KLEIN: Galaxy defender Chris Klein became the third different player to captain the team this season as he wore the armband on Saturday against Toronto FC. The 32-year old right back joins David Beckham, who served as the Galaxy captain for the first nine games of the year and Peter Vagenas who captained the Galaxy last week in a U.S. Open Cup Play-In Game against Colorado, as the only players to be named captain this season. Beckham was unavailable for Saturday's game at BMO Field while on international duty while Vagenas did not start the game but was available to head coach Ruud Gullit off the bench.
LOOKING AT THE OPPOSITION: This is the second of three regular season meetings between the Galaxy and Rapids this season with Colorado winning 4-0 in the season opener at Dick's Sporting Goods Park on March 29. The Rapids also earned a 1-0 win over the Galaxy last week in a U.S. Open Cup Play-In Game, with Conor Casey scoring the game's only goal late in the second half.
Despite the loss earlier this year, the Galaxy still lead the all-time series against Colorado, with a 24-19-5 record. The Galaxy are also 6-1-0 all-time against the Rapids in the postseason, eliminating them from the playoffs in 1999, 2002, 2004 and 2005.
One of the Galaxy's wins over Colorado came on June 7, 2003 when Carlos Ruiz scored twice to give the Galaxy a 2-0 win in the first game ever played at The Home Depot Center, exactly five years before this weekend's game.
The Rapids currently lead the Western Conference with a 5-5-0 record for 15 points, leaving them one point ahead of LA, Chivas USA and Houston, who each have 14 points.
Last year, the Galaxy were 1-2-0 against the Rapids, winning the only meeting between the two sides at The Home Depot Center 3-1 on Sept. 8.
BOWEN NAMED PARADE ALL-AMERICAN: Tristan Bowen, the first player signed into the Galaxy Rios program, has been named a Parade High School Soccer All-American. A member of the U.S. Under-18 and Under-20 National Team, Bowen was signed to the Galaxy Rios program in February 2007. He is also a member of the Galaxy Rios Under-20 team, with who he has played one game, scoring three times and adding an assist in a 5-0 win over the Ventura County Fusion on May 11.
GALAXY RIOS RETURN ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON: The Galaxy Rios Under-20 team is back in action on Sunday, June 8 at 4 p.m. when they take on the Lancaster Rattlers at the Lancaster National Soccer Center. The Rios are alone in first place in the USL Super-20 League Pacific Southern California League with a 2-0-0 record so far this season and have outscored opponents 11-0 in the two matches. Tristan Bowen and David Estrada are tied for the team lead in goals with three each while Kyle Nakazawa and Amani Walker each have a pair of goals.
GALAXY AIM TO FIGHT HUNGER: Join the Galaxy and Infinity Insurance in the fight against hunger! On June 7, when the Galaxy host the Colorado Rapids, any fan who donates five cans or $5 will receive a Galaxy Drive Series Ticket Voucher good for $5 off a Galaxy tickets for select games and gain entry into a drawing for a team-signed soccer ball. All donations will benefit the LA Regional Foodbank. Visit LAGalaxy.com for more information.
SERIE DE CAMPEONES IS BACK: The second edition of Serie de Campeones, a Galaxy sponsored youth soccer tournament, will be held at the San Bernardino Soccer Complex on June 14 and 15. The first leg of the tournament was played in April with a third leg to follow later in the summer. The winners of all three tournaments will then face off against one another later in the year to earn the crown of tournament champions. For more information about this tournament, or to register for one of the last remaining spots, visit LAGalaxy.com.
DON'T MISS GALAXY DEPORTIVO EVERY WEEKEND: Galaxy Deportivo, the Galaxy's official weekly half hour show, is back for another year and can now be seen every weekend on two different stations. The show will first air on KWHY-22 every Saturday night at 6 p.m. with a series of features and interviews that provide insight into the weekend's game. Then on Sunday morning, Galaxy Deportivo will air again, this time on Telemundo-52 with the same in depth access, as well as highlights from Saturday night's match.
For the third straight year, Alejandro Navarro and Elmer Polanco will serve as hosts for the show, giving viewers an unprecedented level of access and insight to the 2008 Galaxy team.
PURO GALAXY HITS ESPN DEPORTES RADIO: ESPN Deportes Radio KWKW 1330 AM, the Galaxy's official Spanish language radio partner, is the place for all of your Galaxy news and information. The best place to get that information is on Puro Galaxy, the network's weekly, hour-long show that can tell you all you need to know and more about the Galaxy, airs every Saturday from 2-3 p.m., just in time to get you ready for the Galaxy's game on the weekend.
Rolando Gonzalez, who serves as the play-by-play voice of the Galaxy on broadcasts on KWKW, is the host of Puro Galaxy, and he will be joined by his fellow broadcasters and a series of special guests. So tune in each and every week and stay up to date with everything that is going on in the Galaxy.
MEDIA PARKING AT TRAINING: All media members are asked to enter through Gate D, off Victoria Blvd., and to park in Lot 17 when attending Galaxy training sessions. Members of the media who park in Lot 6 during training sessions may be ticketed by California State University - Dominguez Hills.
