The 14th season of LA Galaxy soccer is just more than 10 days away and the Galaxy continue their preparations for their season opener against D.C. United on Sunday, March 22 at The Home Depot Center. This week the club will train everyday before departing for Arizona on Friday for the inaugural PHX Soccer Clasico, which will see the Galaxy take on the Chicago Fire at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, a game which will be available via a live audio feed on www.lagalaxy.com, with veteran play-by-play announcer Joe Tutino having the call starting at 6:45 p.m.
Galaxy Team Notes
GALAXY TAKE ON CHICAGO IN ARIZONA ON SATURDAY:
On Saturday, March 14, the Galaxy will play their final preseason game of 2009 when they take on the Chicago Fire at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz. in the inaugural PHX Soccer Clasico. The game, which will kick off at 7 p.m. will feature some of the top players in MLS and two teams that have combined for three MLS Cup titles and six U.S. Open Cup championships. All tickets for the game cost just $36 and are sold on a first come-first serve basis, meaning that the earlier you purchase your tickets, the better the seats you will receive. In order to purchase tickets for this game or learn more about it, please visit
www.phxsoccerclasico.com
. If you cannot make it to Tempe, you can listen to all the action live at www.lagalaxy.com. Joe Tutino will have the call starting at 6:45 p.m.
INJURY UPDATES:
Edson Buddle (quad), Todd Dunivant (ankle), and Eddie Lewis (hamstring) all missed training late last week and on Monday and are unlikely to join the club in Arizona for Saturday night's game against Chicago. Lewis was injured during the Pan-Pacific Championship, while Buddle suffered his injury in training early last week. However, both are expected to be ready for the season opener against D.C. United on March 22.
However, Dunivant is not likely to feature in that game as he continues his rehabilitation work from an ankle injury that he suffered in 2008 as a member of Toronto FC.
Bryan Jordan returned to training today after missing the last two weeks with a foot injury and is expected to be available for the game in Tempe.
GALAXY TO FACE COLORADO IN U.S. OPEN CUP PLAY-IN GAME:
On Tuesday, April 7, the Galaxy will host the Colorado Rapids in a U.S. Open Cup Play-In Game at The Home Depot Center. The game will kick-off at 8 p.m. and will be the second straight season in which the two sides will meet in an Open Cup Play-In Game.
Galaxy season ticket holders will be able to use their Bonus Game 2 tickets for this game while individual tickets for this game all Galaxy regular season home games are on sale now at www.lagalaxy.com or by calling 1-877-3GALAXY.
NUMBER CHANGES:
Two more players elected to change their numbers this week as rookie defenders A.J. DeLaGarza and Yohance Marshall have elected to make the change. DeLaGarza, the Galaxy's second round SuperDraft pick out of the University of Maryland, will now wear the #20 shirt after beginning the preseason as #16 while Marshall, an undrafted rookie out of the University of South Florida will now wear the #5 shirt, which was given up by Omar Gonzalez last week.
LIVE THE DREAM:
Major League Soccer announced on Sunday live on Univision's Republica Deportiva that the LA Galaxy will be one of three teams participating in nationally-televised player search Sueño MLS. The Galaxy will also host the finals at The Home Depot Center the week of the "SuperClasico."
The journey to turn a dream into reality began Sunday for thousands of young soccer players as pre-registration opened for Sueño MLS 2009 - built by The Home Depot. Registration for the LA Galaxy tryouts opened at 3 p.m. and filled up by 8 p.m. In all, more than 800 participants signed up on Sunday for the Galaxy tryout. Hopefuls are still able to register to the Waiting List via www.SuenoMLS.com for an opportunity to participate in the premier search for undiscovered soccer talent in the United States- The winner of the first Sueño MLS, Jorge Flores, went from being on the waiting list to winner. The tryouts and personal stories will be chronicled weekly by Univision's popular weekly sports show, "República Deportiva" (Sports Republic).
The Chicago Fire, DC United and the LA Galaxy will each host tryouts, with four local winners from each city moving on to an exciting four-day "Final Event" in Los Angeles. Galaxy tryouts will be on March 28-29 at the San Bernardino Soccer Complex. The finals will include training sessions, scrimmages, guest celebrity scouts, and an opportunity to meet some of the league's biggest stars at the "SuperClasico" game between the LA Galaxy and Chivas USA on April 11. The ultimate champion will be crowned on Sunday, April 12, live (EST) on "República Deportiva".
LOOKING FOR MORE UPDATES?:
If you are looking for continuous updates from the Galaxy all week long, be sure to visit the club's official websites www.lagalaxy.com or www.lagalaxyfutbol.com, or the club's official blog at
www.thelagalaxy.blogspot.com
for all the latest news from the club.
