Los Angeles Galaxy president and general manager Doug Hamilton has said it all year. So have head coach Steve Sampson and captain Pete Vagenas. At the beginning of each season the Galaxy have one goal: to win championships.
On Wednesday night, the club has a chance to add another trophy to their case when they play FC Dallas in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final. The game will mark the second time the two teams have met in less than a week. The game could also be the second of five games to be played in the next few weeks, as the teams would face each other in the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs if the season ended today.
But the Galaxy can't look too far into the future since Wednesday night will be the first time they've played for a domestic championship since 2002, when they won the MLS Cup. For Tyrone Marshall and the rest of the Galaxy veterans, Wednesday's game is a chance to recapture the standards set by past Galaxy teams.
"I think it's important for us to win the cup. We need to have some trophies," said Marshall. "The last two years I think we underachieved. We had some good teams on paper and good players. This year we want to get back to that Galaxy attitude which is bringing home trophies. No matter what competition we're in, at the end of the day we want to win it."
Winning is on everyone's minds in the Southland considering the struggles this Galaxy team has had over the summer. With the playoffs looming, winning the Open Cup could provide the added boost the team needs to make a realistic run at the MLS championship as well.
Psychologically the task is a bit more difficult considering a week ago FC Dallas dismantled the Galaxy 4-1 at their new Pizza Hut Park home.
"We're going to go in with the same mentality: Win. Dallas definitely embarrassed us," said Herculez Gomez, who has scored five of the Galaxy's 12 goals during their Open Cup run. "We can put it behind us but we can't forget about it. We have to come out, play for pride, and play for our fans."
The only real question mark heading into the championship game for the Galaxy is fatigue. Injuries won't be an issue, as Paulo Nagamura is listed as questionable, and all the other Galaxy regulars are healthy.
However, Wednesday will be the fourth game that Los Angeles has played in 11 days. Still, the Galaxy don't think they'll have any problem getting up for the game.
"I don't think its going to be too hard because we're going to be psyched up for this game. This is something we've been talking about and thinking about," said Galaxy fullback Todd Dunivant. "To win a championship is no small feat -- I don't care what you say."
If the Galaxy can emerge Wednesday night as the victors it will be the first step towards reclaiming the tradition of excellence laid down by past Galaxy teams. Standing in their way though is a talented Dallas side that the Galaxy are going to get very familiar with over the next several weeks.
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
