CARSON, Calif. --
The Galaxy will open the home portion of their 2008 schedule on Thursday night when they host their long-time Northern California rivals, the San Jose Earthquakes at 7:30 p.m. at The Home Depot Center. This match will be shown live on ESPN2 and can be heard live in English at lagalaxy.com or in Spanish on ESPN Deportes Radio KWKW 1330 AM. At Thursday night's match, which is presented by Herbalife, the first 5,000 fans in attendance will receive a commemorative Galaxy t-shirt while the first 10,000 will receive a 2008 Galaxy schedule magnet courtesy of Herbalife.
The Galaxy Reserves will also be in action this week as they host the Earthquakes at 12 p.m. on Friday on University Field #1 in a game that is free to all fans.
Galaxy Injury Report
OUT - Charles Alamo (R-Knee Surgery), Ante Jazic (R-Ankle Surgery)
DOUBTFUL - Alvaro Pires (R-Foot), Carlos Ruiz (R-Knee)
QUESTIONABLE - None
PROBABLE - Julian Valentin (R-Ankle)
Alamo and Jazic will continue their rehabilitation work this week, with Alamo continuing to ride a stationary bike and working on restoring range of motion in his knee, while Jazic hopes to begin doing some light ball work this week as his rehabilitation moves into its third month.
Ruiz suffered a sprained right MCL on Saturday night against the Rapids and will be evaluated by the Galaxy's club doctors this week while Pires has been bothered by a sore right foot that will be examined on Monday and Tuesday.
After missing both the first team and reserve games this weekend, Valentin is ready to train and will join the club on both Tuesday and Wednesday meaning that he should be available for selection on both Thursday and Friday baring any setbacks.
The Week That Was
LA Galaxy
Saturday, March 29; Galaxy 0 - Rapids 4
The Galaxy suffered their worst season opening defeat in club history, losing 4-0 to the Rapids at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. LA trailed 1-0 at the half before goals in the 60th, 67th, and 80th minutes sealed the win for Colorado.
LA Galaxy Reserves
Sunday, March 30; Galaxy 1 - Rapids 1
A second half goal from Bryan Jordan gave the Galaxy a 1-1 draw with the Rapids in the Reserve Division season opener. LA trailed 1-0 at the break, but just six minutes after the half, Jordan headed a Mike Randolph cross past the Colorado keeper to give LA a point in the match.
Galaxy Team Notes
HOME SWEET HOME: The Galaxy will hold their 2008 home opener on Thursday night when they take on long time Northern California rivals, the San Jose Earthquakes at The Home Depot Center. The Galaxy are 8-4-0 all-time in home openers, with two of those games coming against San Jose (1-1-0).
This is the fourth year that LA has opened the season on the road before coming home. In the three previous seasons that the Galaxy have opened away from home, they are 2-1-0 in their home openers, with the only loss coming last season in a 2-1 defeat by FC Dallas.
NEW FACES JOIN THE GALAXY: The Galaxy completed the signing of six players in the week before last Saturday's season opener in Colorado, four of whom went on to play.
On Tuesday, the club added Bryan Jordan and Josh Wicks from the Portland Timbers, before signing draft picks Michael Gavin and Brandon McDonald on Wednesday.
On Friday morning, the Galaxy completed the signing of Brazilian midfielder Alvaro Pires who had been training with the club for much of the preseason.
The final addition to the roster came late on Friday as the club signed goalkeeper Vito Higgins. A Hawaii native and four-year starter at Gonzaga, Higgins was selected by the Galaxy in their second annual Open Tryout in February and spent a week training with the club before leaving for the Pan Pacific Championship and Asia Tour 2008. Following the injury to Charles Alamo in February, Higgins was brought back in to training in late March and will join Alamo, Steve Cronin and Josh Wicks as the four goalkeepers on the Galaxy roster. He was on the bench but did not play in Sunday's Reserve Division draw in Colorado.
Three of the six, Gavin, Pires and Wicks were added to the club's 18-man senior roster while Higgins, Jordan and McDonald were added to the Developmental Roster.
A WEEKEND OF DEBUTS: In addition to Gavin, McDonald and Pires making their Galaxy debuts on Saturday night, Ely Allen also made his first appearance for the club, starting and playing the opening 45 minutes against the Rapids before being replaced at halftime by Alan Gordon.
In Sunday's reserve game, three other players made their Galaxy debuts as Sean Franklin, Bryan Jordan and Josh Wicks each played the full 90 minutes in the 1-1 draw with Colorado. Jordan scored the game's only goal while Wicks made a string of saves at the other end. Franklin limited Colorado's attack down the left flank and often joined into the Galaxy attack from his right back position, nearly scoring for LA midway through the first half only for his shot to be held by the Colorado keeper.
WELCOMING BACK A RIVAL: After a span of nearly 30 months, the rivalry between the Galaxy and San Jose Earthquakes will return on Thursday night as the two long-time California rivals do battle at The Home Depot Center. The two sides have met a total of 50 times in the regular season, postseason and U.S. Open Cup, with the Galaxy owning a 29-15-6 record over the Earthquakes.
The last time that the two sides met was in the 2005 MLS Cup Playoffs when the Galaxy eliminated the top-seeded Earthquakes 4-2 on aggregate in the Western Conference Semifinals. Landon Donovan scored twice to lead LA to a 3-1 win at The Home Depot Center in the first game of the series before Donovan and Peter Vagenas set up Ned Grabavoy in a 1-1 draw in Game Two in San Jose, sending the Galaxy on to the Western Conference Championship and the second MLS Cup championship in club history.
XAVIER SEES RED: Galaxy defender Abel Xavier was sent of in the 89th minute of the season opening loss to Colorado, making him the first Galaxy player ever to be sent off in a season opener. It was the first red card of the 35-year old defender's MLS career, and he will now be suspended for Thursday night's home opener against the Earthquakes.
A DIFFICULT DEFEAT: Saturday night's 4-0 defeat to the Rapids tied the club mark for the second worst defeat in Galaxy history, matching a 4-0 loss at New England on May 6, 2006. The only time that LA lost by more than four goals was on June 15, 2002 when they lost 5-0 to the MetroStars (now New York Red Bulls) behind four goals from Mamadou Diallo.
However, after losing that game to the MetroStars on the road, LA returned home to defeat the Dallas Burn (now FC Dallas) 3-0 and later went on to win MLS Cup that season.
RESERVES BACK IN ACTION ON FRIDAY: Following their season opening 1-1 draw on Sunday in Colorado, the Galaxy Reserves will be back in action on Friday afternoon when they take on the San Jose Reserves at 12 p.m. This match is scheduled to be played on University Field #1 and is open and free to all fans.
NATIONAL CHAMPION USC WOMEN'S SOCCER TEAM TO BE HONORED: Prior to Thursday night's game against San Jose, the Galaxy will honor the USC women's soccer team. In December, the Women of Troy defeated Florida State 2-0 to win the first National Championship in the program's history.
REGISTRATION DEADLINE NEARS FOR GALAXY CLÁSICO: The fourth annual Galaxy Clásico Soccer Tournament will be held on April 26 and 27, 2008 at the San Bernardino Soccer Complex. The Clásico, one of Southern California's top adult soccer tournaments, will feature Men's and Women's Open divisions while also attracting friendly competition in the Men's Over 30 and Over 40 divisions. Each team will be guaranteed three games of play in the tournament on professionally maintained fields. There will be cash prizes in the Men's Open division, team trophies and sponsor giveaways.
Registration is $450 per team and each team can have a maximum of 22 players on a roster. The last day to register is Friday, April 11, 2008. For more information about this tournament or how to register, please contact Blane Shepard by phone at (310) 630-2227 or email bshepard@lagaalxy.com.
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 now that school is in session at California State University - Dominguez Hills.
