It may have been an exhibition game, and it won't count in the grand scheme of things, but the Los Angeles Galaxy aren't making excuses for their 3-0 loss to Tigres of the Mexican first division Tuesday in the World Series of Football.
The overall effort was less than impressive on the night and left head coach Frank Yallop in a sullen mood following the match.
"It's disappointing to see the team come out and perform like that. They almost played like they didn't want to make a mistake, scared and afraid to commit themselves to anything," said Yallop. "That was the thing that really stuck with me. The team is a reflection of me, and that's not what I'm all about. I tried very hard when I played and I got the best out of every situation I had."
The team stayed inside the locker room for nearly an hour after the final whistle, and nobody was happy with the effort put in on the night. Kyle Martino worked the opening 45 minutes before giving way to Cobi Jones, and reiterated his coach's sentiments following the match.
"In the first half we came out really flat. Any time you're playing against a Mexican team and you give them any sort of confidence early that's what happens," Martino said. "We talked in the locker room about making sure we didn't let them play their game right away and we didn't do that at all."
Los Angeles began the night in their old home jerseys before changing kits at the intermission to their new dark blue away jerseys. It's more likely that the halftime talk invigorated the side, as opposed to the wardrobe change, but the Galaxy did show some promise to start the second half.
The Galaxy got forward with more regularity, but the complexion of the game completely changed in the 64th minute when Chris Klein was shown his second yellow of the match and sent off. Down a man for the final half hour, the Galaxy conceded two more goals to confirm their defeat.
"No matter what the call was I would have disagreed with it," said Klein. "But you know, that's part of the game. We move on from that."
For Los Angeles, moving on means focusing on Saturday's match against Chelsea FC. With a repeat performance of Tuesday's game, they could be in for another very long night. According to Martino, the message needs to be made loud and clear that just because it's technically an exhibition game, the effort still needs to be there.
"Everyone needs to realize and take to heart. Starting out a game like this, and I don't care if it's a regular league game, an Open Cup game or a friendly, you can't start like that and everyone knows that," Martino said. "I don't think the guys showed up tonight and they're disappointed and they should be."
Whether or not the Galaxy get that message in the next few days or not will be evident when they take the field against Chelsea. Until then the sour taste in their mouths will be a constant reminder of their mission.
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
