The LA Galaxy's second week of preseason training gets underway at The Home Depot Center on Monday, with Ruud Gullit preparing to put his team through another intense week of training. The club will train all week long at The Home Depot Center before departing for the Pan Pacific Championship early next week. This week's training sessions will be the Galaxy's last training sessions here in Southern California before spending three weeks out of the region in Hawaii and Asia, as part of the club's Asia Tour 2008 presented by Herbalife.
Galaxy Team Notes
THIRTY-THREE PLAYERS START SECOND WEEK OF PRESEASON: Thirty-three players, including eight of the club's 10 draft picks will begin their second week of training with the Galaxy on Monday. With just more than a week remaining before the club's first preseason game and the team scheduled to fly to Hawaii in one week, Ruud Gullit and the rest of his coaching staff will be continuing the club's preparations for the Pan Pacific Championship and the opening match against Gamba Osaka on February 20.
Forward Landon Donovan was the last player under contract to enter camp, training for the first time on Friday after helping the U.S. National Team earn a 2-2 draw with Mexico in a friendly last week in Houston.
While four trialists were released from camp last week, one new face joined Galaxy camp over the weekend as 2007 USL First Division Rookie of the Year Jay Needham arrived in Los Angeles. The Texas native played for the Puerto Rico Islanders in 2007 after being selected by D.C. United in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft. A central defender who is also capable of playing as a defensive midfielder, Needham played four years at SMU and was named a finalist for the Hermann Trophy as a senior in 2006, one year after he helped lead SMU to the College Cup
OPEN TRYOUTS CONTINUE AT THE HOME DEPOT CENTER: Nearly 400 players turned out for the Galaxy's Second Annual Open Tryout this weekend at The Home Depot Center. All players were able to play a pair of games over the weekend, participating in two, 60-minute, 7v7 matches on Saturday and Sunday before the first cuts of the Tryout.
Eighty-four Galaxy hopefuls were invited back for a third day of matches under the watchful eyes of Director of Soccer Paul Bravo and a select group of talent assessors. Of those 84, approximately 30 will be brought back once more on Tuesday morning for the final match of the Open Tryout.
GALAXY PREPARE FOR PRESEASON SCHEDULE: The Galaxy have scheduled five games for the 2008 preseason as Ruud Gullit gets his squad ready for the start of the MLS season. Following two weeks of training at The Home Depot Center, the Galaxy will depart for Hawaii and the inaugural Pan Pacific Championship. While on the island of Oahu, the Galaxy will play Gamba Osaka of the Japanese J-League in their first game on Wednesday, February 20 before playing either the Houston Dynamo or Sydney FC of the Australian A-League in either the tournament's championship game or third place game.
After a week in Hawaii, the club will head west once again, this time to Seoul, Korea for a week of training and a friendly against FC Seoul on Saturday, March 1 at Seoul World Cup Stadium. Following the game, the Galaxy will make their final stop of the tour in Shanghai, China, training for five days and playing a friendly against China All-Star Union on Wednesday, March 5 at the Shanghai Stadium.
A few days after the game in Shanghai, the Galaxy will return to the U.S. to begin final preparations ahead of the season opener on March 29 in Colorado. Part of those preparations include a trip to Dallas to face fellow MLS side FC Dallas at Pizza Hut Park on Saturday, March 15 in the FC Dallas Foundation Charity Game, which will benefit the U.S. Fund of UNICEF, the Miracle League of Frisco and an LA Galaxy charity to be determined at a later date.
LA Galaxy Preseason Schedule (All times Pacific)
Wednesday, Feb. 20 vs. Gamba Osaka (J-League) at 6 p.m., Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, Hawaii
Saturday, Feb. 23 vs. Third Place/Final at 6/ 8:30 p.m., Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, Hawaii
Saturday, March 1 vs. FC Seoul at 4:30 p.m., Seoul World Cup Stadium, Seoul, Korea
Wednesday, March 5 vs. China All-Star Union at 7:30 p.m., Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai, China
Saturday, March 15 vs. FC Dallas at 7:30 p.m., Pizza Hut Park, Frisco, Texas
COZMO & THE EASTER BUNNY CELEBRATE WITH THE SECOND ANNUAL EASTER EGG HUNT: The Los Angeles Galaxy Foundation and The Home Depot Center Charitable Foundation will host the Second Annual Easter Egg Hunt on Friday, March 21 at 12:30 p.m. at The Home Depot Center. Children ages 1-10 are welcome to participate in the annual hunt, which will see Cozmo and the Easter Bunny entertaining the children. Registration for this event will be available on Tuesday, February 19 at www.lagalaxy.com. Special thanks to Snookies Cookies and Nestle for donating treats to this year's event.
MEDIA PARKING AT TRAINING: With the exception of Friday's training listed above, 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 now that school is back in session at California State University - Dominguez Hills.
