Columnist Nick Green has written 100 Percent Soccer
since 2005. A
native of England, he began writing about soccer in
the mid-1980s and in 2000 permanently exchanged a seat
in the stands for one in
the press box. He lives six miles from Carson's Home
Depot Center, home of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Chivas
USA and the training headquarters for U.S. Soccer.
Married to a long-suffering soccer widow, he has a cat
named Pele.Galaxy (Finally) Release Roster For Pan-Pacific Championship
It took long enough, but here are the 27 players in Hawaii for the preseason tournament that starts Wednesday night:
Goalkeepers Charles Alamo, Steve Cronin, Josh Wicks; defenders Celestine Babayaro, Sean Franklin, Michael Gavin, Ante Jazic, Brandon McDonald, Mike Randolph, Troy Roberts, Julian Valentin, Greg Vanney, Abel Xavier; midfielders Ely Allen, Alvaro, David Beckham, Kelly Gray, Kevin Harmse, Chris Klein, Josh Tudela, Pete Vaganas; forwards Edson Buddle, Landon Donovan, Alan Gordon, Bryan Jordan, Carlos Ruiz, Israel Sesay.The missing: Galaxy draft picks Daniel DeGeer and Matt Hatzke, open tryout selection Vito Higgins (who is from Hawaii) and midfielder Kyle Martino.
Martino told me last weekend that's he's healthy and recovered from offseason surgery, so the question arises: Is the relatively high-paid veteran trade bait as the Galaxy look both to reduce their wage bill and log-jam in midfield?
I have no idea whether Ruiz is healthy enough to play; he didn't feature in either of the Galaxy's two closed-door scrimmages last week. Similarly, it's unclear whether Babayara has yet secured a work permit.
And I bet Higgins is crushed.
Comments
I've really enjoyed your blog this pre-season. Keep up the great work!
Mike
Posted by: mbar | February 19, 2008 7:43 PM